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Funding To Help Build Tourism Centre At ELA

Dryden, ON, Canada / CKDR
Mike Ebbeling
Apr 9, 2021 | 8:02 AM


Funding To Help Build Tourism Centre At ELA

The federal government is making an investment to establish a world-class science and tourism centre at the Experimental Lakes Area, west of Vermilion Bay.

Fednor is spending $180,000 to develop the unique knowledge-based eco-tourism centre.

The money will be used to hire architects and engineers to prepare blueprints, cost estimates and a work plan so construction can begin.

Terry Sheehan is the Parliamentary Secretary for the Minister of Economic Development and says the state-of-the-art facility will provide a boost for local tourism by attracting more visitors to the area and encouraging them to extend their stay, leading to increased spending at hotels, restaurants and local shops.

He adds the Centre’s design will incorporate clean energy and green technology and reflect Indigenous teachings, culture and values.

Sheehan says the building will be a model of leading-edge environmental innovation and a welcoming facility for researches, students and visitors from around the world.

Matt McCandless is the senior director of the ELA and says the funding is critical to bring the project to the next phase.

He says, “The new Canada Centre for Climate and Lake Learning will strengthen our freshwater research, service a hub for freshwater education and public engagement in northwestern Ontario like no other, and create a unique tourism destination in northwestern Ontario.”

McCandless notes, “It will have classroom space. It will have a reception centre with galleries of work that we do. It will have some classroom and seminar facilities, a dining facility, and it will also have some accommodations that are specifically designed with high school students in mind.”

He says they hope to have the project shovel ready by the fall and completed within two years.

(With Files From Stuart Walter: Kenora)