NIPIGON -- The Liberals are pledging continued federal support for Nipigon's plan to reinvent its Waterfront.
Thunder Bay-Superior North MP Patty Hajdu was in Nipigon Tuesday to confirm $947,887 in FedNor funding committed but never announced under the former Conservative government.
The $2.7-million Waterfront Development Plan includes an observation tower, a boardwalk and an outdoor events park.
Hajdu praised Nipigon community leaders for their success in shifting gears in the town’s economy, diversifying its mainstay from forestry to ecotourism over the last decade.
“It’s a gorgeous waterfront,” Hajdu said.
“There are a lot of festivals that happen in Nipigon. This is an opportunity to enhance those festivals and attract more people to the area. When people come for the first time, oftentimes they discover aspects of a community that they may not have known exist or they may be attracted to come back again and again.”
Mayor Richard Harvey was first elected on a platform of diversifying the economy only months before the Nipigon Mill burned down 10 years ago. Through infrastructure rejuvenation and financial planning, Nipigon’s council aimed to make the town an international eco-tourism destination.
Harvey worked with senior levels of government to invest in an infrastructure facelift that also includes the Nipigon River Bridge and the soon-to-be-complete National Marine Conservation Area.
“This was to a certain extent, the vision we had,” Harvey said.
“The National Marine Conservation in 2006 had been basically sidelined. Myself and a few others ran on a platform of making sure that moved forward and making sure tourism became part of the diversified economy of this area.
“You can never see everything but this is part of that vision we had at that point and I’m excited to see it all moving forward.”
“It’s a gorgeous waterfront,” Hajdu said.
“There are a lot of festivals that happen in Nipigon. This is an opportunity to enhance those festivals and attract more people to the area. When people come for the first time, oftentimes they discover aspects of a community that they may not have known exist or they may be attracted to come back again and again.”
Mayor Richard Harvey was first elected on a platform of diversifying the economy only months before the Nipigon Mill burned down 10 years ago. Through infrastructure rejuvenation and financial planning, Nipigon’s council aimed to make the town an international eco-tourism destination.
Harvey worked with senior levels of government to invest in an infrastructure facelift that also includes the Nipigon River Bridge and the soon-to-be-complete National Marine Conservation Area.“This was to a certain extent, the vision we had,” Harvey said.
“The National Marine Conservation in 2006 had been basically sidelined. Myself and a few others ran on a platform of making sure that moved forward and making sure tourism became part of the diversified economy of this area.
“You can never see everything but this is part of that vision we had at that point and I’m excited to see it all moving forward.”
