NIPIGON — The township is looking at alternative locations for the Lake Superior Administration and Visitor Centre.
Nipigon Mayor Suzanne Kukko said they are working on "plan B" locations and looking into next steps after human remains were found earlier this year at a site where Parks Canada had started to build a visitor centre.
"We're going to focus first on the [locations] that are owned by the township and then we'll go from there, but it'll be up to our administration and the Parks Canada administration to work on that and come up with a solution."
Initially, Parks Canada had awarded a $37-million contract for constructing a new administration and visitor centre for the Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area in Nipigon in January, and ground was broken in May.
Shortly after construction started, pre-contact Indigenous ancestral remains were uncovered, and all construction halted while the site was investigated.
On Friday, a Parks Canada representative said approximately $5 million of the $37 million has been spent on the work to date and the project is on hold for the moment.
Kukko said the site at the marina will be returned to its original state.
"That's something Parks Canada is currently working on to put the property back to the way it was," said Kukko, who was unsure of the township's role during this process, if any.
The mayor added that she's been told the land is currently classified as a "sort of cemetery area" and that those decisions wouldn't be up to her or the township.
