City Council is narrowly approving a $150,000 “Thunder Bay” sign for the waterfront.
It was a controversial proposal, ending in a 7-6 vote in favour of designing and installing the sign using $100,000 from the hotel tax fund. The votes against were Councillors Albert Aiello, Mark Bentz, Trevor Giertuga, Brian Hamilton, Rebecca Johnson, and Kristen Oliver.
Northwood Councillor Shelby Ch’ng was behind the motion, and reiterated that the hope is to make the city more attractive on social media.
She says the current results for #thunderbay on sites like Facebook and Instagram show “non-descript” natural locations or the Sleeping Giant.
“So we needed a space that is high-traffic, that says Thunder Bay, and that is looking in rather than always looking out,” Ch’ng says.
McKellar Councillor Brian Hamilton agrees tourists would flock to the sign, but didn’t get behind the motion. He says the money should go to existing attractions like the Centennial Botanical Conservatory instead.
“We have unfinished business to do,” Hamilton says. “And my problem with being in politics so far is that we forget about where are shovels are in piles of dirt all around the city.” He adds many citizens and Councillors have spoken up about the need to fix the aging Conservatory.
McIntyre Councillor Albert Aiello voted against the sign, but wants to keep other options on the table, like a metal frame to encourage people to snap pictures with the Sleeping Giant or other scenery.
There were other suggestions from Westfort Ward Councillor Kristen Oliver, who has concerns with taking too much inspiration from the sign in Toronto Ch’ng based her proposal on.
“I think that we’re sort of duplicating what other communities have done, and while they’ve had success doing it, I think that there’s so many different elements that we showcase in this community that are attractive for visitors to attend,” Oliver points out.
