Stantec volunteers revamp run-down tunnel

Members of the Stantec volunteer team help revamp a derelict tunnel at Fraser Street and Second Avenue West on Monday morning. The effort was part of the company's second annual Stantec in the Community Day.

A once derelict pedestrian tunnel in the downtown core has been transformed into an alluring, all-encompassing mural depicting what the North Bay community has to offer.

On Monday, members of the local Stantec design firm morphed the tunnel near Fraser and Second Avenue West, underneath the former railway tracks, into a much brighter and appealing walkway.

The effort is part of the company’s Stantec in the Community Day, the second annual day of worldwide volunteerism to celebrate their commitment to design with the community in mind.

“We wanted to make something beautiful or clean something up that was a major entry into our downtown core,” said Stantec’s Jennifer Soper, who headed up the project with fellow employees Rachel Cranford and Lyne Gauthier.

“Hopefully what will happen is people will come through this tunnel and they’ll be inspired by the artistry and words and think positively about our community.”

One side of the revamped tunnel depicts North Bay’s most popular landmarks and activities in a panoramic mural, while the adjacent wall displays meticulously chosen words and sentences that exemplify the North Bay community.

“We actually got ideas from Stantec employees, asking them what community meant to them,” said Cranford, the project’s designer and mechanical designer with Stantec. “A lot of the activities that you see are activities that people in our office participate in, so it's what this community is to the Stantec office."

Up to two months of scheming and comprehensive planning finally came to fruition when the team began the overhaul on Saturday morning, beginning with a complete revitalization of the weeds and overgrowth at the entrance of the tunnel.

By Monday afternoon, the entire tunnel was coated in a luminous orange base coat with the various pictures and words lining the walls.

“For me, it’s great to show the rest of the community what North Bay has to offer,” Cranford continued. “Everyone who uses this tunnel can now see all the different local activities that they can be participating in.”

In total, 30 Stantec volunteers participated in the effort on Monday, taking shifts in three teams of ten to see the project come to life. Each volunteer dedicated at least two hours of their time to the project, with others taking multiple shifts from Saturday through Monday.

“People in the office supported it wholeheartedly,” said Soper. “They have done everything from raking, cleaning debris, applying white paint to painting the mural.”

The Stantec team also worked closely with the City of North Bay, who gave the crew permission to refurbish the run down tunnel while also helping out by pressure washing the preexisting paint and graffiti off.

The Stantec team also designated a portion of the end of the tunnel for local graffiti artists to use. And while the crew did say some people painted their tags on the wall between Saturday and Monday, they are hoping that people respect and appreciate the new mural.

“We’re leaving some of the wall orange in hopes that that’s where the graffiti artists will put their contribution instead of affecting the mural,” said Cranford. “We hope they’ll be respectful of not only what we have done, but the rest of the community that walks through here too.”

Monday was this year’s Stantec in the Community Day, which involved more than 5,500 team members and volunteers at community organizations in Canada, the United States, Barbados, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and India.

For last year’s inaugural Stantec in the Community Day, the North Bay crew teamed up with the Sudbury office to donate 44 units of blood to the Canadian Blood Services.

“This year, we wanted to do something that involved more people and would leave a mark on the community, so we chose this tunnel in particular because it’s one of the major entries into the downtown core that’s been neglected,” said Soper.

“We thought we would make it more beautiful, more appealing, and make it more friendly,” she concluded. “It’s designed with our community in mind.”