North Bay crafts waterfront strategy: contractors break ground for a view of Lake Nipissing.

AuthorRoss, Ian
PositionCONSTRUCTION

The new vision for North Bay's already-picturesque waterfront revival remains a work in progress, but the skeletal work of new construction on its fringes is already well underway.

Structural work for a new hotel complex and public health unit was being erected in late July as City of North Bay planners launched a downtown-waterfront master planning process to begin tapping the community for ideas on what the next stage of development should look like.

After an enlightening brainstorming session in June that attracted 120 people, city planning manager Bev Hillier said her department wants to hear from residents on what amenities they want to see to make the waterfront a year-round attraction.

With the designers of Thunder Bay's award-winning waterfront redevelopment in the fold, Hillier said they'll be staging more open houses in the fall to present the public with some options.

"We expect to have more definite ideas to go back to the people with concepts. Did we hear you right? j Are we on the right track?"

The focus on rejuvenating the beaches and walkways along the Lake Nipissing shoreline is sending all the right signals to developers that the core is the place to be.

On the construction front, leading the pack is Darko Vranich, president of the Vrancor Group of Hamilton, the driving force behind a $20-million hotel development.

On a once-vacant piece of property at Oak Street and Memorial Drive, the foundation for a six-storey, 100-unit Homewood Suites hotel was poured in May. Tagged onto the development will be a Starbucks coffee shop and a restaurant.

Vranich is a well-known developer in North Bay having built two hotels--a Holiday Inn Express and a Hampton Inn with a Shoppers Drug Mart--in the McKeown Avenue retail strip in the city's north end.

Paul Goodridge, Vrancor's local agent, said the Homewood project was designed with an eye on the coming attractions from the master plan.

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"Absolutely," replied Goodridge. "Darko has two other hotels in town but this is going to be more of a showpiece development."

New accesses will be installed off Memorial and Oak, including a four-metre widening of Oak since it's currently half the size of a standard street.

Goodridge said the contractor, Reimar, should have the hotel enclosed by November with the opening slated for February. "It's a pretty aggressive timeframe."

Vranich owns an adjoining lot, which will be used as overflow parking for receptions and conferences at...

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