Missing the boat
Borden-Carleton resident wants to see more tourist resources come to Marine Rail Park
Standing outside the railway station replica at Borden-Carleton’s Marine Rail Park, resident Ralph MacDonald says his community isn’t just missing its ferries, it’s missing the boat on tourism.
“Do you see that brownish building over there,” he says as he points to a large building.
“That used to be the Abegweit Hotel. In every room there used to be a crank phone,” he explained with a chuckle.
MacDonald has lived in the town since 1961. Recently he spent an afternoon at the popular sightseeing spot.
“I saw three tour buses come to the spot within a couple of hours. Everyone was interested in knowing the history of the bridge and the ferries. But there was no tour guide there or someone who was trained to tell them about the area.”
Instead people asked the bus driver about the history, but he couldn’t answer because he didn’t know either, added MacDonald.
“It was kind of embarrassing to be honest. This is a good tourist attraction; I mean it’s not Cavendish where you spend half a day there, but you might spend a good amount of time here.
“There’s a lot to be said about this forgotten town. We’re seen as a friendly province, but we’re not very friendly if we’ve got no one here to greet them.”
MacDonald wants to see two things happen to improve the tourism resources at the park.
“I’d like to see a trained tour guide or someone who at least knows the history of BordenCarleton available to speak with the tourists as well as someone front Strait Crossing to have someone here to talk about the bridge.
“Coming to an empty building is not impressive in my book.”
Visitor Carrie Brunet recently moved to New Brunswick with her family from Alberta. She spent time at the Marine Rail Park recently.
“I know how long the bridge is, but I don’t know why it was built or the history behind it and the area,” she said.
“I’m sure people would want a guide here or someone familiar with the area.”
Immediately after crossing the bridge, Brunet and her family toured Gateway Village and then made their way to the rail park.
“It would make sense that you would have a lot of tourists come here. You have a great view of the bridge and the area. There are monuments and the lighthouse, so to have minimal resources here makes me a little sad.”
Dean Sexton, mayor of Borden-Carleton, says he would like to see the area prosper as a tourism attraction.
“We would love to get the worker in there as early as possible as well as the fall season, but that is up to the provincial government to see that need. The person should be there earlier in the spring and later in the fall.”
The park continues to grow in popularity and consumes considerable town resources to maintain, he added.
“We just received funding to staff the marine rail park on June 12. This person is put there by the province. That said, we try to accommodate the tourists and buses as best we can in both spring and fall.”
The park is a municipal site without provincial funding, with the exception of a temporary staffing person, Sexton explained.