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Harbour Grace lands $185K for historic ‘Harbour Walk’

By Craig Westcott/March 10, 2023

The Town of Harbour Grace is getting close to $185,000 in provincial funding for a heritage project that could start as early as this spring.

Councillor Gordon Stone, the former chairman of the Town’s business and economic development committee, made the motion to accept the provincial money. Stone was pitch hitting for the new committee chairman, councillor Lee Rodgers, who couldn’t attend a special meeting of council held 2 p.m. Monday at which this project, and the hiring of new staff, were the main items on the agenda.

Stone said the money will be used towards implementing phase 1 of the Heritage District Development Project. The project aims to develop a “harbour walk” through the town’s Heritage District, which runs through the downtown from Cochrane Street to the Cathedral. The plan is to develop signage, story boards, special lighting, and other enhancements making use of the town’s historic laneways to attract tourists and provide recreation for residents who would like to explore Harbour Grace’s historic architecture and past.

The Town is also hoping to work with the owners of Harbour Grace Ocean Enterprises to allow more public access to the workings of the shipyard to provide a glimpse of the history of marine enterprises in that area. There are also hopes to eventually do something with the ruins of historic Ridley Hall, a mansion built in 1834 by merchant Thomas Ridley and the scene of lavish balls and special events before eventually being converted to a cable station. The deteriorating structure was destroyed by fire in 2003, but there have been suggestions the grounds could be rehabilitated to provide a venue for lawn sports, public gardens and special gatherings. But even without making use of the Ridley Hall ruins, the historic walk will still take walkers past other big houses that were once home to some of the most active merchants in the Colony of Newfoundland, as well as other impressive heritage structures including the former Immaculate Conception Church, the Harbour Grace Courthouse, Garrison House/Hampshire Cottage, Rothesay House, and St. Paul’s Anglican church.

Stone described the acquisition of the funding as the first big success to result from the preparation of Harbour Grace’s new strategic plan. He noted that the letter of financing offered by the Province is subject to further funding being offered by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

“So, hopefully there will be a further announcement on more funding,” Stone said. “And this particular project, we’re hoping to see (start) in the spring.”

Stone thanked councillor Randy Wrice for serving as a liaison with the Provincial Department of Culture, Recreation and Business to promote the town’s historic laneways.

“This is an ongoing project and this is the first step,” said Stone, “and we’re all very proud of it as a council.”

Stone also thanked the Town’s economic development officer, Matthew McCarthy, and Town Manager Amy Dwyer for pushing the funding applications forward.

“It’s another good opportunity for the town,” agreed Mayor Don Coombs.

In other news from Monday’s special meeting:

Council is extending offers of employment to four people and preparing contingency plans for replacements in case those offers don’t work out to fill a number of lingering vacancies at the Town depot and Danny Cleary Community Centre.

A special committee comprised of Deputy Mayor Keith Skinner, councillors Brendan Chafe and Gordon Stone and the Town Manager examined each of the applications and scored them individually with the candidates getting the highest cumulative totals receiving the job offers after their references were checked.

“I’d like to say thank you to all those who applied,” Stone said. “They were a fantastic group of very talented people and it was a difficult challenge to narrow it down to get the people that we wanted, but we have done it… We’ve done due diligence on this matter and we think we’ve come up with some people who can offer a lot to the Town of Harbour Grace.”

The two applicants being offered the part time seasonal maintenance worker positions will have to provide a Code of Conduct letter from the police and a Driver’s Abstract. In the event either of those candidates refuse the offer, or fail to provide the documentation, the third highest placing candidate will be offered the job. And in case that person doesn’t work out, the committee has identified a fourth candidate who would get the job offer.

“We’re hoping by doing this process we can avoid long delays in the future,” Stone said. Because these positions are very important for the running of the town in the spring.”

In the case of the full time and part time Facility Attendant II positions at the Danny Cleary Community Centre, the committee has also identified a third place choice in case either of the winning candidates doesn’t accept the job or fails to produce the necessary documentation, which in this instance also includes a Vulnerable Sector Check, because staff at the centre work in the presence of children.

“There were a lot of people who applied for the position of Outside Worker – I think the number was 28 – and it was hard to pick people that you really needed from it,” said Deputy Mayor Skinner. “And when we did the point system, from first place to the fourth-place person, there was only about two points in the difference, that’s all. It was the same thing for the stadium (position). The stadium (position) had five people who applied, and with the point system that we used, they came in pretty close too. So, I’d like to thank the people who applied, and I know sometimes it doesn’t go your way… but we did the best we could and picked the best that we could.”

Mayor Coombs said he is looking forward to seeing the new workers take their up their positions as soon as possible.

And finally, council is applying for $20,100 in provincial grant money to make the Volunteer Fire Department’s social building wheelchair accessible.

“The proposed financing arrangement, if successful, is 90 per cent from the grant and 10 per cent from the Town,” noted councillor Brendan Chafe, who made the motion to apply for the money.

“It’s something we’ve been talking about, and I thank councillor Chafe for making the motion to see if we can get some funding to make it happen.,” said Coombs.

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