North Bay wants public input for next stage of waterfront development

The City of North Bay is seeking public input on developing the waterfront space behind the museum. Eric Taschner has the latest.

The City of North Bay is looking for community feedback and ideas for the next phase of its waterfront development plan.

The city is looking for ideas on what to do with a large open space behind the museum on Oak Street West.

Located in between the Family of Rotary Splash Pad and Playground and the Dionne Quintuplets home, the city wants to continue development.

“What we really want to do is make the downtown waterfront area really the place to be,” said city Coun. Justine Mallah.

The city issued an online survey, which is available until the end of September. So far, it has received more than 1,000 responses from residents about what they’d like to see done with the empty space.

Emily House and her son were playing in the open field around noon hour on Tuesday. They come here quite often to play on the playground and cool off at the splashpad.

“They (the city) have done a good job,” House said.

Families are coming up with ideas on what else they’d like to see come to the area.

“A maze would be so special,” said resident Ingrid Harrison, as she walked by the piece of empty property.

“They could have some tall bushes and they could be making it out of bushes. Kids would love it -- but adults would love it, as well.”

The Downtown Waterfront Master Plan, which was completed in 2017, sets out a vision for improving North Bay’s downtown waterfront.

The goal is to create a layout that fits well with nearby attractions, including the multi-use basketball courts and the Kiwanis All Wheel Park.

Give people a reason to visit

“It would be nice to see some Instagram-able moments,” said Amber Livingstone, Downtown North Bay and Waterfront’s executive director.

“Let’s give people a reason to come down and say, hey, you know what? This is even better looking than it was before.”

Livingstone was part of a meeting Monday where she had a chance to ask the consultant questions and get some more insight.

Brook McIlroy, a nationally acclaimed firm specializing in urban design, planning, landscape architecture, architecture and interior design, is working with city staff on the project.

The firm previously led the development of the city’s Downtown Waterfront Master Plan.

Mallah said it’s likely a draft concept will be ready to be presented in October.

“I’m looking forward to hearing what the community wants,” she said.

The downtown waterfront has seen millions of dollars in investment in the last two decades, with the goal of further enhancing tourism and recreation in mind.

“We’ve already made some great strides and there’s more things to come,” Mallah added.

On Oct. 2, the city plans to hold an in-person public engagement to learn more about proposed concepts.

The location, date and time will be confirmed at a later date.