New Highway II overpass in Gravenhurst could be major change in tourism history
Gravenhurst made its history as a “jumping-off” place, where the traveler arrived by stage or rail and boarded a Muskoka Lakes steamship for the rest of the journey by water to points on Lake Muskoka, Lake Rosseau and Lake Joseph.
When rail and steamship travel became less necessary to the movement and service of the tourist trade, with new roads and rail-line extension, Gravenhurst began to lose its “hub” relevance. Increasingly over the past sixty years, our town has been bypassed by the motoring public, enroute to their lakeland destinations near Port Carling, Port Sandfield, and Rosseau. Although I don’t have traffic statistics to back up this claim, it would be hard to deny for example, that moving old Highway II, to bypass the urban area of Gravenhurst (around Gull Lake) meant a substantial, ongoing loss of potential business traffic. Instead of turning into Gravenhurst to get to the above mentioned communities, cottagers and tourists in general seem to prefer exiting at Bracebridge and Highway II instead.
The newly proposed overpass and exit into Gravenhurst could dramatically effect this traffic flow through Bracebridge, and instead help create new interest in the Highway 169 route through Torrance, Bala and Glen Orchard to the intersection with Highway 118. The commercial node planned in area of this new overpass and exit will be quite encouraging to motorists interested the Muskoka experience (off the major highway) sooner, and a short drive will put them at the new Muskoka Wharf facility and many options there for a traveling respite (dinner by the lake)….while listening to the lap of waves against the shore of Lake Muskoka.
It could be the case, if Gravenhurst takes full advantage of this huge new opportunity, that we will again be a more recognizable “jumping off point,” one that in 2007 onward will encourage visitors to linger a wee bit longer in the town’s commercial and service quarters, than has been evidenced by statistics in the past few decades. As many seasonal residents and visitors already enjoy, Gravenhurst can be a fulfilling long-term vacation destination. The highway realignment is a critical new reality for the historic Gravenhurst downtown, and a great boon for new development through these upcoming commercial nodes. Despite what other Muskoka communities have done to draw business to their communites, Gravenhurst could siphon a great deal of new commerce by employing sensible and attractive signage pointing the way. An upgraded business plan developed and implemented by amalgamated commercial interests will allow the community at large to take advantage of this exciting new-age opportunity.
As an historian, I know this is a precedent setting era for the welfare of the next century…..unless the Doomsday Clock has something to do with our fate sooner. There is a very real possibility the planned changes to Highway II will finally restore some long-lost heritage to Gravenhurst, as the first major community of Muskoka. This will be Gravenhurst’s decade and there should be much less whining about opportunity denied! Help shape the future of this town in transition by getting involved. Get off the fence and help where you can. Saving our high school seems to me a great place to start,
Thanks for joining this Gravenhurst blog site. More to come.
Has the writer lost his mind – he’s supposed to hate urban development
It has often been said Gravenhurst has been frozen in the 1950’s, while our neighboring communities have been fast tracking into the new century. And while I never thought that was a terrible thing, because I happened to like the 50’s, when it comes to living in a town full of despair, and business failures, it does become by necessity, a mission of restitution and restoration to encourage the infusion of opportunity. If my present hometown is going to fail economically, because of the aggressive commercial developments to the north and the south, then it is the justification to make improvements. I’m an environmental watchdog don’t kid yourself…. and I don’t agree with the senseless, for profit only, destruction of Muskoka hinterland on a lark. Strip balls impress be the least especially when the land it claims was a thriving and important green belt. When however, I see this wonderful little town, which has worked so hard to protect its heritage and integrity, despite many external pressures, this new development period has many more positives for the people who need it the most. We do need to provide a good working and investment base, in this town, in order to provide employment opportunities for our sons and daughters, many who do stay on after high school and post secondary school education. We need to show these inspired graduates the advantages of investing their futures here…reasons for them to open new business and industry; to build houses here, and to raise their own families in this beautiful region of Ontario. My two sons have invested here by opening their own business. They already have expansion plans after only one year on the main street of Gravenhurst.
I can put my differences with developers aside, when it is a matter of economic survival, not simply land-sharking at Muskoka’s peril. If ever there was a time for Gravenhurst citizens to get off the fence and cease complaining, it is now, today, this moment, and turn that energy into a pro-active relationship with municipal governance, so future development becomes reflective of our values, not solely the image desired by investors….the ones disinterested in our hometown values. Don’t underestimate the significance of citizen action and lobbying in order to fulfill our greatest urban needs.
While I’m always upset by sacrifice in my community, and confess to feeling profound nausea when a bulldozer wipes out a lowland in a day’s work, I do know when change becomes necessary and it may not be the change that suits my local politics and environmental ethic….yet if it helps the community survive and maintain its historic integrity at the same time, then I would gladly volunteer to help a business retention and expansion initiative. It doesn’t mean I won’t try to save open space and fight tooth and nail against anything that smacks of cash-in-lieu of parkland (my longstanding argument against selling parkland dedications) but it has become crystal clear our future is in serious peril if we don’t fight back with sensible proportion, to make Gravenhurst as appealing to investment and commerce as possible. And this is an historic initiative, in my ballywick, and I would love to see Gravenhurst reclaim its past as the true Gateway to Muskoka.
If that makes me a hypocrite, then I stand guilty as charged. No one will ever accuse me of disloyalty to my hometown, past or present!
Gravenhurst made its history as a “jumping-off” place, where the traveler arrived by stage or rail and boarded a Muskoka Lakes steamship for the rest of the journey by water to points on Lake Muskoka, Lake Rosseau and Lake Joseph.
When rail and steamship travel became less necessary to the movement and service of the tourist trade, with new roads and rail-line extension, Gravenhurst began to lose its “hub” relevance. Increasingly over the past sixty years, our town has been bypassed by the motoring public, enroute to their lakeland destinations near Port Carling, Port Sandfield, and Rosseau. Although I don’t have traffic statistics to back up this claim, it would be hard to deny for example, that moving old Highway II, to bypass the urban area of Gravenhurst (around Gull Lake) meant a substantial, ongoing loss of potential business traffic. Instead of turning into Gravenhurst to get to the above mentioned communities, cottagers and tourists in general seem to prefer exiting at Bracebridge and Highway II instead.
The newly proposed overpass and exit into Gravenhurst could dramatically effect this traffic flow through Bracebridge, and instead help create new interest in the Highway 169 route through Torrance, Bala and Glen Orchard to the intersection with Highway 118. The commercial node planned in area of this new overpass and exit will be quite encouraging to motorists interested the Muskoka experience (off the major highway) sooner, and a short drive will put them at the new Muskoka Wharf facility and many options there for a traveling respite (dinner by the lake)….while listening to the lap of waves against the shore of Lake Muskoka.
It could be the case, if Gravenhurst takes full advantage of this huge new opportunity, that we will again be a more recognizable “jumping off point,” one that in 2007 onward will encourage visitors to linger a wee bit longer in the town’s commercial and service quarters, than has been evidenced by statistics in the past few decades. As many seasonal residents and visitors already enjoy, Gravenhurst can be a fulfilling long-term vacation destination. The highway realignment is a critical new reality for the historic Gravenhurst downtown, and a great boon for new development through these upcoming commercial nodes. Despite what other Muskoka communities have done to draw business to their communites, Gravenhurst could siphon a great deal of new commerce by employing sensible and attractive signage pointing the way. An upgraded business plan developed and implemented by amalgamated commercial interests will allow the community at large to take advantage of this exciting new-age opportunity.
As an historian, I know this is a precedent setting era for the welfare of the next century…..unless the Doomsday Clock has something to do with our fate sooner. There is a very real possibility the planned changes to Highway II will finally restore some long-lost heritage to Gravenhurst, as the first major community of Muskoka. This will be Gravenhurst’s decade and there should be much less whining about opportunity denied! Help shape the future of this town in transition by getting involved. Get off the fence and help where you can. Saving our high school seems to me a great place to start,
Thanks for joining this Gravenhurst blog site. More to come.
Has the writer lost his mind – he’s supposed to hate urban development
It has often been said Gravenhurst has been frozen in the 1950’s, while our neighboring communities have been fast tracking into the new century. And while I never thought that was a terrible thing, because I happened to like the 50’s, when it comes to living in a town full of despair, and business failures, it does become by necessity, a mission of restitution and restoration to encourage the infusion of opportunity. If my present hometown is going to fail economically, because of the aggressive commercial developments to the north and the south, then it is the justification to make improvements. I’m an environmental watchdog don’t kid yourself…. and I don’t agree with the senseless, for profit only, destruction of Muskoka hinterland on a lark. Strip balls impress be the least especially when the land it claims was a thriving and important green belt. When however, I see this wonderful little town, which has worked so hard to protect its heritage and integrity, despite many external pressures, this new development period has many more positives for the people who need it the most. We do need to provide a good working and investment base, in this town, in order to provide employment opportunities for our sons and daughters, many who do stay on after high school and post secondary school education. We need to show these inspired graduates the advantages of investing their futures here…reasons for them to open new business and industry; to build houses here, and to raise their own families in this beautiful region of Ontario. My two sons have invested here by opening their own business. They already have expansion plans after only one year on the main street of Gravenhurst.
I can put my differences with developers aside, when it is a matter of economic survival, not simply land-sharking at Muskoka’s peril. If ever there was a time for Gravenhurst citizens to get off the fence and cease complaining, it is now, today, this moment, and turn that energy into a pro-active relationship with municipal governance, so future development becomes reflective of our values, not solely the image desired by investors….the ones disinterested in our hometown values. Don’t underestimate the significance of citizen action and lobbying in order to fulfill our greatest urban needs.
While I’m always upset by sacrifice in my community, and confess to feeling profound nausea when a bulldozer wipes out a lowland in a day’s work, I do know when change becomes necessary and it may not be the change that suits my local politics and environmental ethic….yet if it helps the community survive and maintain its historic integrity at the same time, then I would gladly volunteer to help a business retention and expansion initiative. It doesn’t mean I won’t try to save open space and fight tooth and nail against anything that smacks of cash-in-lieu of parkland (my longstanding argument against selling parkland dedications) but it has become crystal clear our future is in serious peril if we don’t fight back with sensible proportion, to make Gravenhurst as appealing to investment and commerce as possible. And this is an historic initiative, in my ballywick, and I would love to see Gravenhurst reclaim its past as the true Gateway to Muskoka.
If that makes me a hypocrite, then I stand guilty as charged. No one will ever accuse me of disloyalty to my hometown, past or present!
Please visit my other blog at www.thenatureofmuskoka@blogspot.com
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