Every summer tens of thousands of Winnipeggers flock to cottages and weekend homes in the Kenora area.
But sudden closures of three forestry mills has community leaders seeking to reshape the city's blue collar image to that of a year-round tourist destination with a more diversified economy.
Losing a major chunk of the municipality's industrial tax base is a huge blow, but working in Kenora's favour is the Lake of the Woods and its reputation as Muskoka North.
Tapping into the community's historic past and its relaxed pace of life will be borne out through a dramatic makeover of its central business core. It begins in earnest this summer with the Big Spruce downtown and waterfront revitalization project.
In June, earthmoving equipment from Wilco Landscaping Contractors was moving into place, preparing to dig up Main Street in the first stage of a massive two-year $25 million downtown project that shifts next year to the harbour.
It started as a long overdue infrastructure project, but took on a more cosmetic change to revive and enhance the historical Victorian-era buildings in Kenora's core.
Easily the biggest improvement project in Kenora's history, the century-old wooden sewer and water lines will be replaced and all gas and overhead power lines will be buried and out of sight.
"Everything we see on Main Street will be gone and replaced by October," says city councillor Dave McCann, one of the Big Spruce project leads. With new angled parking, sidewalks, widened intersections and a traffic round-about, they hope to reduce exhaust emissions and improve the summertime flow of vehicles that snakes through the compact downtown.
Since storm sewers were never installed, there's always been health and environmental concerns on the state of the underground pipes and what's been seeping into the lake for years.
"There could be all kinds of surprises down there," says McCann,
Some downtown merchants are taking advantage of a facade improvement program to dress up their storefronts through incentive grants provided by the city. On the waterfront, there will be new landscaping, a boardwalk and a 110-metre wharf built with 30 slip docks for boaters. Coordination will be key to alleviate headaches as traffic is re-routed onto side streets.
A tremendous effort has been devoted to a public communications plan with a Big Spruce website, summer students to direct pedestrian traffic and appointed block captains to deal with any issues.
There's also plenty of meetings between the contractors, politicians, administrators and engineers to review weekly progress.
"Everyone's trying to stay informed. They'll be surprises, but we'll deal with them," says McCann.
Economic development chairman Dennis Wallace says the Big Spruce is a major investment in Kenora's economic future that goes beyond forestry and the seasonal tourism dollars.
The city has been marketing its lakeside quality of life to restless urbanites wanting a lifestyle change, near-retirees and Winnipeg business people in an attempt to entice new employers to town.
The Big Spruce is an important underpinning of that pitch, says Wallace, who is attempting to land two info-tech companies.
Wallace says that "first blush" appearance of a vibrant downtown can make a great impression on potential investors.
"The Big Spruce renovations will provide an experience that will be lasting."
There are few replacements for lost high-paying mill jobs, but with the help of a site location consultant, the city is hoping to define what companies, outside of the natural resources sector might like to relocate.
The closure of Abitibi Consolidated's mill in 2006 left a large hole in the city's balance sheet.
It's hoped condo development and other prospects can fill that fiscal gap.
"The feeling is in three years we will have turned a corner and caught up," says Kenora Mayor Len Compton.
One prospect is Qualico Homes. The Winnipeg developer has municipal approval to build a 64-unit on the site of the old Abitibi staff house described by city officials as an eight-acre "piece of paradise" overlooking Lake of the Woods.
On nearby Tunnel Island, there's a movement afoot to determine future uses for the former Abitibi Consolidated property, now held in trust by the city.
The wooded area has value with Treaty 3 Aboriginal leaders who are working with the city to determine the island's historical, cultural and archaeological significance.
