Coming down

Posted January 12, 2012 by ThunderBayClassifieds.ca in News | No comments yet

It was the home of champions, but on Thursday the former Thunder Bay Curling Club was reduced to rubble to make way for an 88-unit condominium unit.

A pair of excavators moved in to begin the work at 9 a.m., to begin the demolition of both the curling club and the adjacent clubhouse, a move that is expected to keep the nine-hole Thunder Bay Country Club viable for another 100 years. The plan also includes a new 10,000 square foot clubhouse.

Club president Bob Swan called it a fantastic day.

“This has been a project that’s been going on for a couple of years and this is the culmination of the first step and I can’t wait to see super structure go up,” he said. “We’ve got a great project going on here.”

Swan, who said the club is still going strong after 102 year of operation, said it was simply time to revitalize the facilities on the Golf Links Road property.

“We haven’t used it as a curling club for about seven years. You know, it was kind of starting to look like a bit of an eyesore.”

Several years ago the club had sought to expand to 18 holes, and had even considered purchasing Centennial Golf Club, building an 18-hole course on that property and shifting locations. But that deal fell through and this more than makes up for it, Swan said.

The members are thrilled to see the development take shape, he added.

“It just shows that we’re committed to being here and we’re happy being in the middle of town,” Swan said.
“We have a real gem right here. And we have a very strong membership. It’s almost full. We don’t have a lot of room for new members.”

The new clubhouse is a bonus too, despite how well the existing one has served the members over the years.
Golfers will have to make do without for a summer, he said.

“There will be one year with a little bit of upheaval, but after that, it’s going to be fantastic.”

Club officials partnered with real estate mogul Robert Zanette on the project, which is expected to be completed by fall 2013, with the clubhouse opening in time for that summer’s golf season.

Zanette, pointing to the new Quality Market store across the street, the proximity to Lakehead University and the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, called it a trophy location for condominium development in Thunder Bay.

The demand certainly proves his point.

“We’ve been building condos for 20 years across North America and it’s pretty hard to beat a site like this,” he said.

“We’ve never had a project that was virtually entirely spoken for prior to breaking ground. That doesn’t mean everybody’s going to come on board, but we basically have more names than units and we’ve never been in that position, so we’re pretty happy with that,” said Zanette, noting that the condo market in Thunder Bay has nonetheless likely reached its saturation point, with this and other planned developments in place.

Units are expected to sell for between $275,000 and $600,000.

Thunder Bay Curling Club was home to the Helen Sillman rink, the 1971 and 1972 provincial women's curling champions. Bill Tetley (1972) and Al Hackner (1992) won Northern Ontario crowns on the men's side.
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Cats coming back

Posted August 12, 2011 by ThunderBayClassifieds.ca in Sports | No comments yet

The boys of summer will return next year. Thunder Bay Border Cats president and general manager Brad Jorgenson told tbnewswatch.com that his team will be back in 2012 and that the organization has already started selling season tickets. Jorgenson said he and manager Mike Steed were not happy with the team’s record, which was a more respectable 16-16 in the second half with three games left in the season. But that doesn’t reflect the team’s efforts throughout 2011. “Neither one of us is happy with it and we feel we have a lot of unfinished business here,” Jorgenson said. “They did the absolute best they can and that’s all you can ask from the players you’ve got.” Off the field, Jorgenson said overall attendance was up 15 per cent this year, which still gives the team the second worst average attendance record in the Northwoods League with 771. A lot of that though may have been because of a cold June. “Certainly there were some nights here where I questioned why anyone was here,” he said with a laugh. “It was cold and it was brutal, yet there were still die-hard fans here.” No amount of promotion will get people in the seats when the weather doesn’t cooperate. “That’s the most frustrating thing about this business is when (the weather is really bad) it doesn’t really matter what you’re promoting,” he said. “You can have some really good promotions that you’ve put a lot of money towards and it’s gone. There’s nothing you can do about that.” But Jorgenson points to Wednesday night’s game where there were more than 1,000 people at the Port Arthur Stadium as a mark for what the city is capable of. When more people show up, that means more money for the team to be put back into enhancing the stadium. The organization is looking at ways to get people out, from “pie in the sky” ideas like a home plate VIP section, to plans already in the works like an approved Toronto Blue Jays program that could see a batting cage near right field that would help Border Cats and be open to the public. All of those ideas would need city approval before going ahead. “We got a lot of things about in the air that we think about doing,” he said. Steed said while he’s disappointed with the team’s record, every player gave it their best all season long. “There wasn’t a game that I can remember all season that they came out and just kind of mailed it in,” Steed said before the Border Cats’ second last home game of the season Thursday. Defensively the team was strong, the hitting was solid but the bullpen blew up mid-way through the season, giving up at least a dozen saves. That was probably the turning point in the season, he said. “Our bullpen kind of fell down a little bit and we lost some games late,” Steed said. “I think that was the difference.” Rounding out the bullpen will be key to a winning season for the Border Cats next year, Steed said. But the manager still hasn’t confirmed whether he will be part of that team. “I haven’t made that decision yet. I’ll have that conversation with Brad Jorgenson,” Steed said. “And make my decision here in the next couple of weeks.” Jorgenson said he wants to see Steed back in the dugout. “I would love to have Mike Steed back again,” Jorgenson said. “As far as an individual I don’t know anyone else I’d rather have.” A highlight for Steed was watching Cullen Mahoney mature into the best hitter in the league. The junior from Arizona’s South Mountain College is finishing up his season with a .337 average. He’s hit 27 RBIs and four home runs for the team. Mahoney, along with pitchers Brad Delatte and John Straka, played in this year’s Northwoods All Star game. “Any time you get multiple guys in an all-star game it says a lot about your club and those kids personally,” Steed said. The Border Cats play their final home game Friday night at Port Arthur Stadium against the Wilmar Stingers. The Cats, already leading 2-0, will be looking to sweep the series. The game time is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.     View full post on Tbnewswatch.com – Sports

Community centre could be coming down

Posted August 19, 2010 by ThunderBayClassifieds.ca in Thunder Bay News | No comments yet

A neighbourhood landmark might be coming down if council votes to demolish the Westfort Community Centre Monday night.
City construction manager Gerry Broere said the 66-year-old building has long past the point of being rehabilitated and its roof could be in danger of collapsing should the city experience a heavy snowfall this winter.
“If there was a heavy snowfall there is the potential for collapse,” said Broere. “Some serious work probably should’ve been done on that building almost 30 years ago. It’s at a condition now where it’s not feasible to even try to salvage the structure it would have to be totally torn down and rebuilt.”
Broere said buildings like the Westfort Community Centre are built with wood frames and lack a real foundation which usually needs major repairs after 40 years. The building was inspected five years ago and was said to be in poor but stable condition. After a recent inspection though, Broere said age has finally taken its toll on the centre. The cost of a complete rebuild would be $825,000 compared to at most $30,000 to demolish and level the site he said.
All programs and salvageable equipment will be relocated to other community centres such as West Thunder or Vale. Broere said it would be sad to see the centre go but wants to have it gone before winter so it won’t pose a danger to anyone. Everyone involved with the centre has been notified and relocation for some programs has already begun he said.
“I’m sure they’re sad to see the community centre potentially go but the programming has been and will be accommodated at other locations,” said Broere.
Should council vote to tear the centre down, a closing celebration has already been tentatively planned for Oct 2. The building would be closed to the public and demolished by the end of October.
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Stanley’s coming

Posted June 29, 2010 by admin in ATV’s, Thunder Bay News | No comments yet

The Stanley Cup is coming to Thunder Bay on July 10. Patrick Sharp on Tuesday confirmed the date with Dougall Media, though he’s keeping his plans for the trophy quiet for now. Sharp, whose Chicago Blackhawks won their first Cup in 49 years on June 9, told Thunder Bay Source a week after the win that he plans a mix of public and private events with the Cup, first awarded in 1893. It will mark the third time since 2006 that it has been to Thunder Bay with a homegrown Stanley Cup champion. Eric Staal won it with Carolina in 2006 and his younger brother Jordan captured it with Pittsburgh last year.

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