Lake Ontario Waterfront Trail News

An Ezine Produced by the Waterfront Regeneration Trust

CIBC* COIP*The waterfront municipalities of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, conservation authorities and community groups*The Eastern Lake Ontario – St. Lawrence River Waterfront Working Group* MapArt* Dunmap*Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion* Regional Niagara Bicycling Committee* St. Lawrence Cement* Tilley Endurables

August 2007

In this issue:

• Beyond Regeneration: The Trail Ahead – Waterfront Conference and Partner’s Meeting
• Celebrating 15 Years – More Proclamations for “Waterfront Trail and Greenway Day”
• Hydro One Launches New Grants Program for Recreation Facilities in Ontario
• Waterfront mp3 Walking Tour of Toronto
• NorthumberlandView.ca Website Launch
• Bicycle-Friendly Business Awards

Upcoming Conferences and Community Events:

• Technical Tour on the Route Verte
• World Record Walk
  

BEYOND REGENERATION: THE TRAIL AHEAD – WATERFRONT CONFERENCE PARTNER’S MEETING

When: Sept 19-20, 2007
Where: Palais Royale, Toronto

View the program at http://www.waterfronttrail.org/wn-conferenceprogram.html
Register today at: http://www.canurb.com/events/register/register1.php?id=185

With less than three weeks left, time is running out to sign up for Beyond Regeneration: The Trail Ahead. Be sure to register to secure your place at the conference. The 2-day meeting features an exciting line-up of knowledgeable and inspiring speakers that will guide our discussions about the Waterfront Trail and Greenway’s future. Click here to view speaker bios.

Welcome and thank you to our conference sponsors, CIBC, Toronto Hydro, The MMM Group and Heart and Stroke Foundation.

The program has relevance to any community with a waterfront interested in:

• planning and design trends and challenges; and
• developing multi-community marketing.

Day Two of the Conference -- the first-ever Waterfront Trail and Greenway Day will give participants a unique opportunity to experience the Trail first-hand. We’ve organized a cycling tour from Mississauga to Pickering for our second day. The 46 km ride will showcase just how far we’ve come on the waterfront. The ride is fully supported, with various pick-up and drop-off points that allow you to ride as little, or as much as you like.

Please email Petrina at pt@wrtrust.com to reserve your place in the ride and enquire about bike rentals.

CELEBRATING 15 YEARS - PROCLAMATIONS FOR “WATERFRONT TRAIL AND GREENWAY DAY”

The Trust is pleased to announce that the Town of Oakville and Prince Edward County have come on board in proclaiming September 20th “Waterfront Trail and Greenway Day.”

2007 marks the achievement of several major milestones for the Trail. As a partnership we’ve tripled the length of the Trail, doubled the number of community partners, completed 50 construction projects, attracted $9.2 million of investment to waterfront projects and signed the route from Quebec to Niagara.
To acknowledge their town’s waterfront leadership and record the following municipalities have also made proclamations: the Town of Ajax, Town of Cobourg, Town of Whitby, Loyalist Township, Municipality of Clarington and the City of Belleville.

Many other partners have confirmed they will issue the proclamation closer to the date.

HYDRO ONE LAUNCHES NEW GRANTS PROGRAM FOR RECREATION FACILITIES IN ONTARIO

The following announcement from Hydro One will be of interest to our partners working within municipalities and registered charities:

August 20, 2007 - Hydro One is launching a new grants program called PowerPlay to support and enhance children's sports and recreation facilities in Ontario communities served by the company.
The program, open to municipalities and registered charities in Hydro One-served communities, offers grants up to $25,000 for capital projects for community centres, indoor or outdoor ice rinks, playgrounds, splash pads and sports fields where the primary purpose is to support children's community sports and active play. This includes new facilities and renovation of existing facilities that are open and accessible to the community at large. Additional funding may be available where energy efficiency measures are incorporated into the project.

Municipalities interested in the program should go to www.HydroOne.com and click on In Your Community and follow the on-line application process.

Thanks to Alan Koehler for forwarding us this announcement.

WATERFRONT MP3 WALKING TOUR OF TORONTO

Source: Waterfront Toronto, Waterfront Update, August 2007

Looking for something to do this weekend? Check out Waterfront Toronto’s new MP3 audio walking tour of the central waterfront. Download the audio files and map from the Waterfront Toronto website at www.waterfrontoronto.ca and head down to the boardwalk at the Queens Quay Terminal building to start your tour. You will learn about the great amenities that already exist on Toronto's central waterfront and the exciting things to come! No MP3 player? Waterfront Toronto is offering free MP3 rentals at its marketing kiosk next to the boardwalk at the Queens Quay Terminal building through Labour Day.

Waterfront Toronto teamed up with City Surf to develop the tours.

NORTHUMBERLANDVIEW.CA WEBSITE LAUNCH

A new web resource is about to be launched in Northumberland County. NorthumberlandView will be going live at 12:01 AM on September 1st, 2007.

NorthumberlandView is a private, independent, locally-owned and operated community news and information portal website for Northumberland County. Based out of Cobourg, NorthumberlandView features news, sports, entertainment, business and events related to Northumberland County as well as other local information and content.

Community organizations, associations and any other local groups are encouraged to submit their news or events for publication on the site for free. Businesses are also encouraged to submit their news and events to NorthumberlandView.

NorthumberlandView is free to users and is financially supported by advertisers.

For more information please contact info@northumberlandview.ca.

Thanks to Christopher Pelletier from NorthumberlandView.ca for providing us with this announcement.


BICYCLE-FRIENDLY BUSINESS AWARDS

The Bicycle Friendly Business Awards are awarded annually by the City of Toronto in recognition of businesses that encourage and promote and cycling by employees and/or customers. They reward organizations that help the City of Toronto to achieve its goal of doubling the number of bicycle trips made in the city between 2001 and 2011, as outlined in the Toronto Bike Plan. Bicycle friendly businesses may be characterized by one or more of the following:

• A significant percentage of employees cycle to work
• Cyclist-friendly dress code
• Secure/monitored bicycle parking
• On-site shower and change facilities
• Support for community cycling functions

For more information and to download nomination forms, visit www.toronto.ca/cycling/bfba/index.htm.

The deadline to submit a nomination for a Bicycle-Friendly Business Award is Friday, September 7th, 2007.

UPCOMING CONFERENCES AND COMMUNITY EVENTS:

TECHNICAL TOUR ON THE ROUTE VERTE

September 10 to 14, 2007: English-language technical tour

Vélo Québec is proud to present its Technical Tour on the Route verte to explore the various faces of the Route verte and learn about some of the technical aspects of its development. This tour is designed for route planners or managers, or anyone interested in learning more about how the Route verte was developed. The 5-day touring workshop offers an opportunity to explore urban greenways in Montreal and Quebec City as well as the fields and forests of the Montérégie, Eastern Townships, Centre-du-Québec and Chaudière-Appalaches regions. The bicycle outings range from 25 to 50 kilometers per day, to allow for breaks and technical discussions as well as picture-taking and site-seeing opportunities.

For more information, please visit http://www.routeverte.com/rv/ang/facts.lasso?page=sejourtechnique.

Thanks to Velo Quebec for providing us with this announcement.

WORLD RECORD WALK

Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007

The World Record Walk is aiming to break the existing Guinness World Record for the largest number of people walking one kilometer simultaneously, and what better place to walk than the Waterfront Trail! To register for the event, log on to www.worldrecordwalk.ca.

Cheers!

Marlaine Koehler, Executive Director;
Vicki Barron, Director of Administration and Special Projects;
Petrina Tulissi, Manager of Promotions and Events;
and David Arcus, Project Coordinator, Editor Lake Ontario Waterfront Trail News

The Waterfront Regeneration Trust
372 Richmond Street West, Suite 308
Toronto, Ontario
M5V 1X6

Tel: 416-943-8080
Fax: 416-943-8068

Email: info@wrtrust.com

Visit http://www.waterfronttrail.org to download 77 online colour maps of the Waterfront Trail, from Niagara-on-the-Lake to Brockville!

Thank You to our Supporters!:

• CIBC
• The Lake Ontario waterfront municipalities, conservation authorities and community groups
• The Eastern Lake Ontario­St.Lawrence Waterfront Working Group
• MapArt
• Niagara Freewheelers Bicycle Touring Club
• Regional Niagara Bicycling Committee
• St. Lawrence Cement
• Tilley Endurables
• The Trust would also like to thank the Canada-Ontario Infrastructure Program (COIP) for its generous support of the 51 projects that comprise the Lake Ontario Waterfront Investment Program.