The Thunder Bay waterfront word sign has cleared another hurdle.
Council voted Wednesday in favour of the next step for the 50th anniversary project, which will see administration and the Anniversary Committee report back on the concept design before final approval.
Related: $150,000 Sign Moved To 2021 Budget
The city’s Director of Corporate Strategic Services Karen Lewis says there are a few locations in mind for the sign.
“Both near Prince Arthur’s Landing but the [committee] hasn’t settled on a final one and I believe that would be more of a program discussion,” Lewis told council. “Things are moving fairly quickly. We’re expecting concepts and designs to come back to the next meeting of the 50th Anniversary Committee.”
Council earmarked up to $100,000 of funding in principle through the Municipal Accommodation Tax funds. The Clean Green and Beautiful Committee will contribute $25,000 to the project while the remaining $25,000 will be sought from other sources once the final concept is selected.
At Large Councillor Mark Bentz questioned whether this is the best use of reserve funds.
“Is it going to have the biggest bang for the buck for those businesses coming out of, what is essentially going to be a very large recession or depression? Could we use those funds in different ways than is being proposed in a word sign?” noted Bentz.
Northwood Councillor Shelby Ch’ng, who chairs the 50th Anniversary Committee, and says she has worked hard to get the sign done, just wants it up.
“My name’s on it! Every time somebody mentions the Thunder Bay sign it’s Councillor Ch’ng, it’s not city council that’s carrying this it’s Councillor Ch’ng,” Ch’ng exclaimed. “No one person more than me wants to see this be successful. I just need you guys to say yes so we can do this work and move forward with a birthday party that was supposed to happen last year.”
