City begins work on new waterfront lookout

THUNDER BAY — The City of Thunder Bay has begun work on a new lookout that will serve as the temporary north terminus for the waterfront recreational trail.

The site is on Marina Park Drive close to the lakeshore just south of the Richardson grain terminal.

Werner Schwar, supervisor of parks and open space planning, says a concrete pad and other site work will be completed this year.

Next year, the city will plant vegetation and install artwork including Indigenous interpretations of the Sleeping Giant, Pie Island and Mount McKay, which are all visible from the lookout.

The project reflects the city's aim to advance the waterfront trail north from Marina Park.

"This project really gives people a destination to go to. It's not just 'walk along the road for two kilometres, turn around, and come back,' " Schwar said in an interview earlier this year.

Over the longer term, it plans to extend the trail across the Current River via a bridge to provide a connection to Fisherman's Park and the Boulevard Lake trail system.