One of our region's most popular tourist spots is thinking even bigger.
There's a plan to revitalize the shores of Wasaga Beach, to take it in a different direction. It’s a plan some think will bring people back even during the slow off season.
“I think it's a great idea,” says Patty Agostino. “I think they need to do a change at Wasaga Beach, to bring more families, more children.”
The town wants to give beach areas one and two a makeover. The town now owns more than half of the 52 acres there and says after years of unfulfilled promises by multiple investors to upgrade the beach the time has come to do the job right.
“We're going to get two million people every year. We should be getting four million people. This is the way of doing that,” says Mayor Cal Patterson.
Patterson says the plan calls for the removal of old, worn down buildings that line the boardwalk. In its place would be built new four-storey buildings that would include retail and residential units for year-round living. Upgrades could also include a new hotel or destination resort, a new, longer boardwalk and an expanded sidewalk.
The plan also calls for a festival square, a place to hold special events and act as a focal point of the development.
Most of the two million visitors every summer are from the GTA, but more than half don't spend the night. And the mayor says that has to change.
“We need to develop in our accommodations,” the mayor says, “to attract people for longer periods of time.”
The town plans to hold a series of public meetings later this month to get public feedback. In order to allow for the re-build, re-zoning and official amendments still have to be made. The mayor says he doesn't see that being an issue.
