Callander is still hoping to secure funding to construct washrooms at the marina off Lansdowne. Recently, the Ontario Trillium Foundation declined the municipality’s application for funding—Callander is hoping to receive around $140,000—but the dream may live, as plans are underway to apply for a grant from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC).
The new washrooms / changerooms project is estimated to cost $200,000, of which the NOFC would cover 75 per cent if the application is successful. The municipality would have to cover the remaining $60,000.
Specifically, the grant funds would come from the NOHFC’s Rural Enhancement Funding Stream, which supports rural communities by providing capital “that improve and extend the useful life of capital assets,” within the town, Callander staff explained in a report to council.
See: Strolling Callander’s waterfront is about to get easier
When applying, the municipality must show how the project aligns with overarching community plans, and how the project “expands upon the capacity and efficiency of existing infrastructure,” staff clarified.
Break out the Downtown Waterfront Revitalization Master Design Strategy, which has been lauding the importance and need for bathrooms by the marina for a decade. Since 2012, “this project was identified as a priority,” staff noted, and now, the hope is the people at the NOHFC will feel the same way.
The municipality’s Economic Development Strategy also cites the importance of these washrooms— “a key feature for making the waterfront people-centered,” staff noted—and the additional amenity will be most welcome as more people visit the marina in the upcoming seasons.
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
