Historic walking tour plaques getting ready for waterfront

Cornwall Heart of the City head Denis Carr, left, and artist Pierre Giroux speak to the city's planning committee Sept. 21, 2015 on a project to add plaques to various areas of the city to create a walking tour. (Newswatch Group/Bill Kingston)

CORNWALL – A series of historic plaques are in the works for Cornwall’s waterfront and the town downtown areas.

Heart of the City spokesman Denis Carr and artist Pierre Giroux presented their plans to PAC Monday night for the “exciting project.”

The project will tie the Downtown, Le Village and the Waterfront districts together to enlighten tourists on the vibrant history of the Seaway City.

“Nothing is finalized…nothing is etched in stone,” Carr told the committee, while also making a public appeal to see residents’ old photographs of the waterfront in order to get some inspiration for the remaining planned plaques. “Let us see them!,” an emphatic Carr said.

“The trick was to do something that was original and unique to Cornwall,” Pierre Giroux said after studying what was done in other communities.

The map of the walking tour will be finalized next year, Giroux said.

Ten of the bilingual plaques, which are 30 inches by 40 inches, have been sent to a company in Valleyfield, Que. for printing and there are 11 more planned.

The company in Quebec is known for making this plaques throughout North America and the world, Carr stated.

They will be placed in various areas, like walls of buildings on various streets, self-standing plaques in green spaces and one outside city hall.

Councillors seemed to be pleased with the project.

“You’ve really touched the human history,” Coun. Elaine MacDonald said.

Mayor Leslie O’Shaughnessy confirmed details such as the placement of the plaques, which will take some agreements with landowners in some locations.

The project has applied for funding through the federal government’s Canada 150 plan.

There are also plans to create a coffee table books with prints of the plaques, which Carr said could turn into a revenue source.

The committee hopes to have the plaques installed with a public unveiling in summer 2016.

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