December 5, 2004
Dear Editor,
There is no doubt that Kingston needs improved entertainment facilities, but not at the cost of the loss of its working waterfront.
Anglin Bay is one of the longest-operating working waterfronts in North America and an essential resource for the commercial maritime industry on Eastern Lake Ontario.
My company just completed a project on the 96-foot,3-masted schooner CHALLENGE, of Toronto, for which the industrial infrastructure of Anglin Bay was absolutely essential. This project required the use of the drydock, the crane, the 600-volt electrical supply, and the dockside industrial workspace which still exists at this site. This project came to Kingston because facilities of this type no longer exist elsewhere on Lake Ontario. This project was only one among many that were underway on Anglin Bay at the time, all making similar use of the resources of the working waterfront, and employing dozens of workers. If the boatyard is razed and landfilled to build the LVEC, as is currently proposed, It will no longer be possible to do major work on large vessels in Kingston. Dozens of tradesmen will be without an essential place to perform their work, and the 328-year tradition of building and repairing boats on Anglin Bay will end.
A quick search of web sites under ‘Working Waterfront’ reveals the widespread movement that is currently underway throughout North America to protect these areas from redevelopment for purposes that do not essentially require waterfront land. Studies have shown that working waterfront sites like Anglin Bay contribute many times more to their cities in economic revenue than residential or non-commercial development. Many jurisdictions are recognising this with tax incentives and low-cost loans to protect and enhance surviving working waterfronts. Cities like New Bedford, Massachusetts and Portland, Maine celebrate their protected working waterfronts with festivals and walking tours. With the loss of most of North America’s urban working waterfront, the few cities that still have some are becoming heritage tourism destinations, where visitors can still see commercially viable maritime trades in their noisy, gritty natural environment. No other city on the Great Lakes has a more historic working waterfront than Kingston, where the first ship ever to sail the lakes was launched, so the harbour’s potential draw remains a tremendous untapped resource.
A new LVEC will be a great asset to the City of Kingston, but it should not be built on land that is essential for Kingston’s working waterfront. There are many other sites in the city that are vacant and offer better road access.
Joe Calnan
Calnan Boatbuilding & Joinery
P.O. Box 16, Wolfe Island, Ontario K0H 2Y0
tel: 613.561.9910
joecalnan@hotmail.com