NIPIGON – Parks Canada broke ground on Saturday on the building phase of a $37 million project in Nipigon.
The new Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area Administration and Visitors Centre is being built right on the Nipigon Marina to aid conservation workers and allow the community and visitors to the region to learn all about some of the things Parks Canada does to keep the big lake healthy.
The NMCA was announced over 10 years ago and they have been working out of temporary accommodations according to Garth Grunerud, Asset Manager Northern Ontario Field Unit, Parks Canada.
“This will provide a permanent home for Parks Canada in the region of the Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area which is basically from on land Nipigon to Terrace Bay,” he said.
“And that will allow approximately 30 employees in the summer operating months and about 12 in the winter operating months to do all of their work from a new state of the art facility.”
Patty Hadju, Minister of Indigenous Services and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario, was in attendance for the ground breaking. During a speech she mentioned the dedication her conservative predecessor put into making this happen, she said that protecting our great lakes should be something that everyone can agree on.
“First of all, the health of our water, I can't think of anything more important. Water is life, as many indigenous elders have taught me in my journey. And you know, I currently right now have legislation in the House to protect fresh water access for first nations communities that's deeply connected to the health of big bodies of water like Lake Superior,” she said.
“The lake has had a very challenging history with industry for generations: discharging into the lake. There are still many areas of the lake that are, you know, polluted or at risk of being polluted. And conservation areas like this play a really important role in not just protecting the lake but educating people about the importance of protecting that lake and that should be a nonpartisan issue.”
The new build is a huge project to be brought to a smaller community. Nipigon Mayor, Suzanne Kukko, said that she’s excited for the opportunities it will bring even beyond the jobs in the short term.
“It's extremely beneficial for not only Nipigon, but for the entire region. So, you know, our industries have gone down obviously in the past 15 to 20 years, the forestry industry, our mill burning down, the red rock mill closing, Terrace Bay mill closing,” she said.
“We really have to diversify our economies and tourism is a big part of that. It's a huge part of that and it's not the end all be all as we saw during COVID. Tourism went down a little bit. So tourism is a big part of the diversity of our economy and this is a huge boost to that.”
The new centre should take roughly 2 years to complete and, if all goes according to plan, can be expected to open early 2026.
