Yesterday morning Vic Fedeli, the MPP for Nipissing, doled out $1,642,942 through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC), and Callander was on the receiving end of $499,575 to help with some improvements around the downtown and waterfront areas.
Callander’s Mayor Robb Noon was thrilled with announcement. “We are so excited to hear the news that we were successful with our funding application” and the money will be put to use to “accelerate the implementation of our Downtown and Waterfront Revitalization Plan.”
Specifically, this money will help continue “enhancements to our Centennial Park and Municipal Dock,” Mayor Noon said. “Both areas are not only important gathering places for out community,” he added, “but also a tourism draw for our local economy.”
Fedeli noted the importance of fostering tourism with the region and keeping regional “communities current and thriving to successfully compete in today’s business and tourism climates.”
“It’s a huge opportunity for the municipality,” Mayor Noon said, “because this will allow the municipality to take that jump forward” with the project, which is essentially “a strategic plan for our downtown core.”
“Council got together with our community and our businesses” to create the plan, “because we wanted to do something for our downtown that was not only good for our community and that would build community spirit but also our town relies heavily on tourism,” and these improvements and beautifications will help.
See: Federal money washes into Callander’s waterfront
The revitalization plan has been in the works for years, “and Vic was there at the start of the program, back in 2012,” Mayor Robb Noon said. “He was there to kickstart that plan with money for our pier and for our centennial park.”
Noon mentioned “it’s hard to generate those funds that you need” to move these projects forward, “and throughout the years we’ve been slowly implementing that plan.”
“And now, with this new funding, it’s another jump ahead to help us implement the large parts of that plan,” including more work around the pier “and a board walk and splash pad” in Centennial Park.
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.
