No proposals for NPC’s Fort Erie marina development
Niagara Parks is not giving up on a waterfront development opportunity at its marina along the Niagara Parkway in Fort Erie despite two unsuccessful procurement efforts.
Niagara Parks Commission announced this week that despite extensive efforts and input, including two extensions to the request for proposal timeline, no proposals were received.
This, after a previous request for qualifications didn’t yield a submission that Niagara Parks felt met its requirements.
“We don’t know the reasons why yet ,” said David Adam es, chief operatingofficer of the commission, when asked why he believes it’s been difficult to move the project forward.
“We are going to offer a de-brief session. We hosted an information session last October, and there were some interested parties who submitted questions to the process, so we’re going to offer a de-brief meeting, and learn a bit more about why we did not receive a bid, or bids.”
He said the commission has yet to set a date for the de-briefing session.
“We’d like to do that as soon as we can, so we’ll be working on the details of that over the next few days.”
Once Niagara Parks has considered the feedback from the session, it will determine its next step regarding the marina development.
Asked if the RFP was too restrictive, or if the market just isn’t right for a proposal, Adames said he did not want to speculate on the current situation, but noted it was a “very robust” procurement.
“It was a negotiable framework RFP, meaning that we’re open to proposals coming in that met the objectives of the RFP.”
He said the project opportunity remains important for Niagara Parks, the Town of Fort Erie and Niagara Region.
Adames described the marina and its adjacent property as a “significant node” for the commission.
“There is a long history with that property — former shipbuilding yard, and then Niagara Parks operated a marina there since the 1960s, so it’s important for a community to have that community asset there as a marina,” he said.
“I think, though, from the broader economic development perspective, it’s an opportunity for a marina development with ancillary development as well on the adjacent land.”
The site of the Niagara Parks Marina at Miller’s Creek has been occupied and utilized in a variety of ways.
From 1903 to 1930, the site hosted shipbuilding and repair facilities, as well as a metal foundry and fabrication factory.
The marina lands were purchased by the commission in 1957, and a small boat launch was established in 1965.
The current marina was developed in 1968, and when first opened allowed for 54 boat slips.
An additional 50 boat slips were added to the site in 1975.
Today, 135 seasonal boat slips exist and are operational.
The location, including the marina and adjacent 26-hectare property, is 22 kilometres south of the Horseshoe Falls along the Niagara Parkway.
For the last several years, Niagara Parks has promoted a waterfront development at the site that would appeal to vacationers and boaters looking to be in a historic setting and surrounded by nature.
The commission envisions a development that creates a signature waterfront destination, providing avid boaters an opportunity to access and navigate hundreds of kilometres of lakes, rivers and canals in Canada and the United States.
The commission has sought a developer to design, build, finance and operate a new premier waterfront marina development, while capturing the cultural heritage and natural preservation that defines and makes Niagara Parks unique.
The commission would retain ownership of all the land.
Niagara Parks had said the development would be advanced under a performance-based, long-term lease, while the successful bidder would have to demonstrate innovation, ecological sustainability, excellence in design, as well as strong fiscal responsibility.
The project has been identified by the Town of Fort Erie and Niagara Region as a key economic development opportunity.
Fort Erie Mayor Wayne Redekop said the project is “definitely a top priority” for the municipality, and the Region, and that “it seems as if the Parks is on board.”
He said his vision encompasses an expanded marina, and a resort-type development that would provide more opportunities and accommodations for residents and the travelling public.
“It could be an anchor destination that would help do what I’ve been saying the Parks should be doing … which is spread out the attractions on the length of the 56 kilometres that you’ve got from Niagara-on-the-Lake to Fort Erie — spread them out, take advantage of the opportunities that are there.”
Redekop credited “some very good staff” at the parks commission who are working on this file. “It’s a complicated process, and it’s a large project that the Parks is attempting to attract.”
He said it would have been “helpful” to have the province more involved in the process, and hopes it’s an option that will be considered in the future.
“The Parks is an agency of the province — the province has lots of experience in doing these types of things,” said Redekop.
“Granted, it’s an arms-length agency, and the parks commission doesn’t want the province to be getting involved in their activities, but this is a one-off, this is a major development that could occur, and the province has lots of resources that could be of assistance, lots of information that could be of assistance, and lots of an understanding of who might be out there that could manage and develop this type of project.”
He said the project has “tremendous potential.”
“It can be a game changer, or part of a game changer for the Parks’ operation, as well as what goes on in the region from the tourist-attraction perspective, from the ability to bring in more tourists that can take advantage of more of the parks commission’s existing attractions. It’s jobs, it’s taxes, it’s economic spinoffs …”