Gordan Rennie, chair of Heritage North Bay, presented the organization's 2014 annual report to city politicians at Monday's council meeting. He reported that the Community Waterfront Park and Civic Square saw increased use in 2014, but that there is still plenty of work to do moving forward. PHOTO BY LIAM BERTI
Last year might have been a good year for the Community Waterfront Park, but there are still many challenges ahead.
That was the message from Gordan Rennie, chair of Heritage North Bay, on Monday night when he delivered the 2014 annual report on the operation of the Community Waterfront Park to city politicians.
It was reported that the park, which runs between Oak Street and the railroad tracks, saw increased use in 2014, a trend they are hoping will continue to trend upwards.
Most notably, the venue hosted Ontario University Athletics Nordic Ski Sprint Championships, the Maamwi Kindaaswin Festival and Powwow, Summer in the Park and the Nipissing University Student Union Frosh Concert.
Meanwhile, the Civic Square was able to host mid-week farmers’ market, Patrick4Life community run, Disney XD Grizzly Cup Audition Tour, Summer in the Park museum activities, Culture Days Cultural Summit and the Downtown Christmas Walk fundraising activities, to name just a few.
Despite the popularity though, the issue of funding continues to be an issue, Rennie reported.
His presentation stated that the Community Waterfront Friends’ business plan consultant advised the Heritage North Bay Board of Directors last March that any further development of the park would not be possible without third-party financial partnership or subsidy.
“Our role is to operate the park; we are not to develop it, we are not the proponent, we are just operating what’s there,” explained Rennie.
“Anything that is built in that space would need to be financially sustainable,” he continued. “So whoever is proposing it, either through the revenue that it will make or people that will subsidizes it, it needs to pay for itself.”
Rennie said the independent, non-profit corporation continues to focus on financial sustainability first and foremost moving forward.
While discussions with numerous potential expansions and ventures have taken place, Rennie said none of them have materialized yet.
“At this time, Heritage North Bay has not been presented with an attraction business plan by any proponents,” he said during his presentation. “We have had discussions with various potential proponents, but they are not yet at the business plan phase.”
However, he said that the organization is looking at the pause in development in a positive way, allowing them to take a step back and create a more integrated vision for the future of the waterfront, park and downtown area, while also giving them the ability to work on the sustainability of its core responsibilities.
When prompted by Coun. Chris Mayne, Rennie also spoke to the fact that the Discovery North Bay Museum, one of those core responsibilities, is one of the only in Northern Ontario to not receive funding from the municipality.
“The challenge for Heritage North Bay, as the operator of Discovery North Bay Museum, is trying to find revenue to keep the museum open,” he said. “We don’t receive any funding from the City of North Bay to operate it and it’s close to $40,000 a year just to turn on the heat and the lights, so it’s a lot to put on to volunteers.”
Rennie pointed to towns like Timmins and Kirkland Lake, whose museums receive substantial base funding from the municipality. The museum has been operating that way since 1973, when the North Bay Area Museum Society was established to preserve and celebrate the history of the city.
“We are trying to raise more funds and have more events, but it’s really difficult without having a base of funding to at least help with some staffing,” he said.
“We’re not looking for the city to take over,” he continued. “We think that there is a lot of energy and good ideas by being a non-profit, but it’s really challenging without any financial assistance. It’s really hard when you’re behind coming out of the gate.”
