By Evan Mathias, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Lakeshore News Reporter
Belle River Marina could be getting a makeover in the near future with the upcoming completion of the Lakeshore Spark Project.
The project, which was seeking proposals for a public/private partnership to redevelop and improve the marina and pier facilities began taking Requests for Expression of Interest in July and completed the search September 27.
“I can’t get into specifics of how many submissions we’ve had for projects, but there is a lot of early interest,” said Ryan Donally, chief growth officer for the Municipality of Lakeshore.
The idea behind the Spark project originally came to light years ago when Mayor Bailey was still Deputy Mayor. It has been a vision of council for many years according to Donally, and it’s something they have continued on to this point.
“This is the first step in a conversation about how we can invest in this incredible destination, a jewel of Lake St. Clair, while facing significant financial pressures,” said Mayor Tracey Bailey. “We’re casting a wide net to see what kind of interest is out there, to see what ideas a partner can bring to the table, big or small, to help us improve this destination.”
The Marina facilities have seen better days according to Donally. He believes that the area deserves revitalising.
“We’ve got a gem of a location at our pier there, which I would say is one of, if not the best beach destinations in Southwestern Ontario,” said Donally. “The current facilities there are in really rough shape. They haven’t had any tender love and care over the years. What we’re thinking will happen will be a full redevelopment of that entire building, into whatever comes forward.”
While they are open to ideas for businesses and commercial use of the Marina, Lakeshore council understands that it is still primarily a public park area.
“There are a couple essential parts to this, we still need to run a marine operation, so there is still a municipal element to it. We still need to ensure that there are publicly accessible facilities down there and that it is a public space in many ways,” said Donally. “We’re also interested in what the development community envisions for there.”
The opportunities and possibilities for the area are vast. According to Bailey, that’s the exciting part.
“I would love to see a proposal that builds on the strengths of the marina, pier, and surrounding park area. The space is already a regional destination, so anything that builds on that identity and bolsters the elements that residents and visitors love would be ideal for me,” said Bailey. “That said, I also look forward to hearing from my colleagues on Council on what they would like to see.”
Donally is hoping that the marina area is just the start for driving change and redevelopment for the area.
“The opportunity to redevelop that pier through private/public partnership is something that we think with help transition not only the waterfront area and using that brilliant piece of land that is down there, but also help trigger and spark the rest of Belle River’s core,” said Donally.
There isn’t a timeline for the redevelopment process once all the proposals are submitted by the Sept. 27 deadline.
“We’re going to compile all of the proposals and ensure that they meet the requirements of submission. From there we will bring them forward to council. We don’t have a timeline for that, it will depend on how many we get,” said Donally. “I expect we will have some of these ideas back in front of council before the end of the calendar year. We’ll need to determine if they need to be in closed session or not as these are individual proposals that do talk about financial and long-term relationships with the municipality.”
There isn’t one correct answer for the redevelopment of the marina. Donally said that there could be the opportunity to bring multiple parties together for different aspects of the area.
“Let’s just say for example that we have someone that wants to do restaurant and event space down there at the end and then there’s someone else that want’s to do something further south in the park area it doesn’t mean that those two things are exclusive,” said Donally. “Short answer, is it going to be a single entity that’s a Lakeshore partnership, maybe? Is it going to be one or more partners? That could very well be the case.”
Once the redevelopment commences, the final project is sure to be something Belle River and all of Lakeshore can be proud of without immense burden on taxpayers.
“Partnerships like these can help us deliver results while limiting the impact on taxpayers. Throughout our term, Council has sought opportunities to work with local partners, whether they are private developers, educational institutions, or other levels of government,” said Bailey. “This project continues that approach, and I look forward to seeing these partnerships deliver results for our residents and communities.”
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