By ADELLE LARMOUR
The town of Gravenhurst is tapping into its history to enhance its future.
To be completed in part by spring 2006, the Muskoka Wharf project, a $170-million, historically-themed waterfront development could create up to 300 jobs and aims to increase tourism to the area by one million visits per year.
Fashioned after the steam era of 1910 to 1920, the attraction will offer facilities and amenities to integrate and complement elements already present on the shores of Lake Muskoka.
Economically, the impact upon the small town has been positive, creating approximately 250 jobs during the construction phase and an estimated 200 to 300 jobs upon its completion.
Project manager Carolyn Tripp say there will be an annual economic impact of $78 million.
It is the intention to promote the location as a weekly event area, whether that is a farmer’s market, car shows, triathlons, etc.
“We’re hoping the project will create about one million visitations to the site per year,” Tripp says.
Additionally, as a direct response to the project, the Muskoka Bay Development Corp. will be investing $500 million into the town by building an 18-hole golf course and approximately 400 homes.
The public-private development with feature facilities such as a boat heritage centre, trails, boardwalks, docking and marina provisions (129 boat slips) and recreational facilities, as well as restaurants, retail shops, offices and a 104-room hotel and conference centre called the Residence Inn, by Marriott Muskoka Wharf hotel. In addition, 129- residential condominium units, subdivided into three buildings, are being constructed.
The new storefronts will be designed to fit the era, and lighting will be designed with no upward-facing lamps for sensitivity to the dark sky, making the stars more visible at night.
Prior to the transformation of the 89-acre land base, much of the land was privately owned.
Tripp says over the last 25 years, the town acquired much of the land where old industrial buildings stood.
“The shoreline was poor from the perspective of providing aquatic vegetation and spawning areas for fish,” Tripp says.
With the removal of contaminated soils and old buildings, the shoreline has been opened up into a more natural setting.
The town is responsible for $30 million of the project’s cost, and expects the project to be finished in spring 2006. Although the hotel will not be complete until 2007, Tripp says the first 43-unit condominium is sold out and “the second one (building) is halfway there.”
Both condo buildings and six of the 17 planned retail shops will be ready by the spring.
Land developer Evanco Corp. and international theme-park designer Forrec Ltd. are building the private components.
Presently, Tripp says they are in the process of negotiating with six companies for corporate sponsorships to assist in financing the multi-million-dollar undertaking.
Other public sources of funding from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation, the Canada Ontario Infrastructure program and FedNor, contributed about $15 million.
Historical steam ships to be refurbished
The action doesn’t end there.
The Muskoka Steamship and Historical Society and its operating subsidiary, the Muskoka Lakes Navigation and Hotel Company Limited (NAVCO), are not-for-profit organizations that run two early twentieth-century steamships, the Wanda III and the R.M.S. Segwun, They also operate the Wenonah II, a diesel-operated ship that emulates a turn-of-the-century steam yacht.
Presently, the Wanda III will be receiving a complete restoration of its hull, which is made of white oak planks and steel plating. Fred Mischler, Swiss-trained master boat builder who has been working with NAVCO for the last 20 years, will be doing the planking on the hull.
The 94-foot-long and 12-ft-wide classic yacht is one of the finest examples of steam technology from the era, says John Miller, general manager of NAVCO. The same engines were used in the Canadian minesweepers in World War I, and proved very powerful and reliable.
Commissioned in 1915 by Timothy Eaton of the department store founding Eaton family, the yacht was built for speed. In its day, it clipped along at 24 miles-per-hour (mph).
“Often travellers would come up from southern Ontario on the steam train, and board their private ships to get to their cottages or small villages on the lake,” Miller explains. “Those with the fastest boats got there first to avoid long line ups. Those with the most money had the fastest boats.”
NAVCO acquired the Wanda III in 1993 from a private owner. After three years of restoration, it began operating in ‘96, in conjunction with the 99-peson capacity Segwun, which has been operating since ‘81.
The hull replacement, along with some smaller repairs, will cost $250,000. With support from FedNor, the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation and fundraising projects, NAVCO has approximately $160,000 to date. More fundraising campaigns will occur in November and February to obtain the required amount.
Miller says they plan to have the boat back in operation by June 2006, with the intention to continue the charter business, as well as provide public cruises out of the Muskoka Wharf area, which will compliment the 20,000-sq-ft marine heritage museum.
The restoration project will create at least six full-time jobs and add to the preservation of the steam heritage on the lakes, says Miller.
