The early stages of a revitalization has one Wallaceburg councillor eager to see what the future holds.
Being acclaimed to office in this fall’s municipal election, Carmen McGregor says it made for a slightly calmer 2022 than she had expected, but it’s still been busy with a number of projects on the go, including revitalization of the downtown core, both north and south of the river.
She says there’s been a lot of work going on behind the scenes for the last several years, and she’s glad to see the progress being made.
“The changes I see coming for Wallaceburg, like the brewery coming in, I just feel that is going to revitalize our downtown core in a whole different way that we’ve never seen before in a very positive direction.”
Wallaceburg residents are no strangers to bridge work, and McGregor says there’s more to come with rehabilitation of the Murray Street Bridge and planned replacement of the LO Stonehouse Pedestrian Bridge.
“It has been somewhat delayed. The contractor that we got wanted an environmental study because of endangered species in the river and also the heritage piece of the bridge, so they wanted a bit of a study done. It will be slightly delayed, but it should start (next) year.”
McGregor, now into her third term on municipal council, says being able to resume in-person meetings is a big step towards a new-normal.
Looking ahead to 2023, McGregor is excited to see more growth in Wallaceburg and all of Chatham-Kent, new residential developments, expansion of fiber internet, and more.
“It’s an exciting time, I think this is great for my kids and my grandkids. I might not reap the benefits of some of these things, but that’s really not what it’s about right now. It’s about building a good future for everybody, and wanting to make Wallaceburg a community people want to come and stay and live in and play in, and be a bigger part of the picture.”
