By Bridget Tremblay
Historically, the City of Elliot Lake had many economic obstacles before them. Survival was iffy at best and yet, despite all doubts, it has managed to pull together a vibrantly diverse community.
The closure of the Rio-Algom and Denison uranium mines 15 years ago caused the city to spiral downward at the loss of their single industry. Population began to dwindle and becoming a ghost town seemed inevitable.
Since then, the city has rebuilt its economy. Tourism, retirement living and cottagers are the economic engines that not only sustains the community, but also propel it into the future, said mayor Rick Hamilton.
Housing in Elliot Lake is at 97 per cent occupancy and the city has new housing projects on the burner, said Hamilton.
City council has sold 436.52 acres of land at the end of Spine Road to Elliot Lake Retirement Living for condo development.
“This new neighbourhood will be a natural extension to the community. They are in Phase One of the planning,” said Hamilton.
Sprucing up Spine Road is not the only item on the town’s agenda.
There have also been proposals for a $3 million investment in a new library and a $2.7 million investment to upgrade the theatre.
“There have been proposals by the library board and the Civic Centre Management Board to upgrade the library and the theatre. We are looking into a new multipurpose recreational centre that could house both of these,” he said.
“We are also putting $1 million into Horne Lake Park to create fishing piers and boardwalks in the next year,” he said. “It will create a nice place to go for a walk or to simply gather your thoughts.”
Hamilton said the city is also allocating $1.5 million for roadwork as well.
“When this city was built the roads were mostly surrounded by ditches. We are working to get rid of these,” Hamilton said.
Over the last four years the city underwent a series of cottage lot projects which turned out to be a huge success.
They sold 260 lots around the city’s smaller lakes with a three year covenant to build. This year, up to 60 land parcels are expected to have cottages on them.
Looking at Elliot Lake today, one would not have imagined its survival after the mine closures, but Hamilton said it has never looked so good. Merchants and commercial land owners understand this very well.
With mall upgrades and new tenants moving in, the economy does not seem to be slowing.
“The recent opening of the new Bob’s No Frills is fabulous," he said. “These are all signs of a good economy.”
