A part of Niagara’s Porl Dalhousie heritage district that has been mostly gutted due to Ontario’s Liberal government’s unwillingness to fight for this community. File phot by Doug Draper
News from some of the citizens of Port Dalhousie in Niagara, Ontario
(A brief foreword from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper – In my view, the wrecking of the downtown district of a beautiful, historic old Port Dalhousie, once designated as a heritage district in the province of Ontario, is nothing short of corporate vandalism.
And shame on the Ontario Liberal government of Dalton McGuinty and St Catharines MPP Jim Bradley for never – never ever having the guts he once had to speak out publicly against a rotten Liberal premier at the time, Dalton McGuinty, and allowing McGuinty to bomb what was an Ontario designated heritage district within his riding, and in a Niagara that might be better off drawing visitors who might better enjoy the history of this community.
But no. It has already been busted down and municipal and provincial leaders, including the current mayor of St. Catharines, Brian McMullan and St. Catharines MPP Jim Bradley, sat back, without putting up any kind of a real public fight, and let it happen.)
PORT CONSERVANCY ANNOUNCES FORMATION OF PORT DALHOUSIE RENAISSANCE COMMITTEE – Charged with Developing a Commercially-Viable and Sustainable Vision for Downtown Port and Surrounding Area
St. Catharines, March 27, 2014 – Port Dalhousie Conservancy, the volunteer community organization, announced today the formation of the Port Dalhousie Renaissance Committee.
This new committee will provide an opportunity for interested citizens and business community members to develop fresh, future-oriented, pragmatic and feasible ideas to revitalize Port Dalhousie’s downtown business district. The formation of this group is a result of community feedback provided at the December 10, 2013 Public Meeting on the future of Port Dalhousie.
Port Dalhousie Conservancy has moved forward with a number of actions resulting from the December 10 meeting, including presentation of feedback received to St. Catharines City Council, resulting in Council passing two motions to address public concerns about the distressed state of Port Dalhousie. The Port Dalhousie Renaissance Committee (Citizens’ Committee) is the next step, and will have as its objective the development of a commercially viable and sustainable vision for downtown Port and immediately surrounding area.
We are pleased to announce that the committee members have been confirmed. “Although the Conservancy has many members from Port, we feel that it is important that the committee be balanced and also include Port residents who are not members, as well as representatives from the business community” stated President Hank Beekhuis. “In fact, the committee includes only 2 members of the Conservancy plus 6 non-member Port residents and 3 business representatives.” he added.
Current plans are for the committee to start work in April. Once the committee finalizes its proposed business vision, as well as alternatives and strategies for implementation, there will be opportunity for review, comment and revision by property owners and municipal and business leaders. Our ultimate goal is to spark a broad collaboration to ensure Port Dalhousie’s successful renaissance.
The Port Dalhousie Conservancy Inc., is an all-volunteer community organization with over 600 members founded in 1999. The Conservancy’s mission is “To actively support the development and implementation of community-backed initiatives that help preserve and/or enhance Port Dalhousie’s architectural, landscape and cultural heritage; and to support other community-backed initiatives that are consistent with heritage preservation.”
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Niagara At Large 
My grand children used to live in the Port, my grandson worked at the Port mansion, This desecration of a Heritage district and taking a good part of our history and putting it into the dumpster,is like bulldozing downtown New Orleans, that would never happen, but we let it happen to our distinct district. I wish the people could do, what our ancestors used to do, run these useless politicians out on a rail and tar and feather them to boot. This Advisory board has a job similar, to putting Humpty Dumpty together again.
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This a terrific news. By forming this committee made up of a couple of Port Conservancy members but also outside Port volunteers and business interests will make for a good solid working group.
Progress is possible now, but only with the help of city planners and council. Sadly, a 610 CKTB press release just hours ago indicates that the current Port Place group has deferred any work until Spring 2015, and few people knew. Not councillors, not planners.
So there are ups and downs. My hope is that this new group will convince council that action must start now.
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I’m glad that the idea to bring back Port Dalhousie’s businesses is moving forward. It provided jobs to young people who needed the money they earned for college or university. Other community members such as myself enjoyed the village feel, and I made the effort to bring visitors there because of its atmosphere.
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I was in shock last summer when I visited Port Dalhousie after not being there for several years. This once thriving, unique community was totally deserted in the midde of the summer. I thought the new development was supposed to help the economy and the people of the area. So much for that!
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