A centennial celebration for a Northwestern Ontario mark of pride.
July 15, 2021 marks 100 years since the official opening of Chippewa Park.
“It’s a very interesting and important occasion,” says Iain Angus, Secretary of The Friends of Chippewa Park. “100 years ago today, the mayor of Fort William and a group paddled out from the main part of the city to officially open Chippewa Park,” says Angus. “In the 100 years since, there’s been tens-of-thousands of people every year visiting and enjoying the park.”
The Friends of Chippewa Park and the city of Thunder Bay are welcoming people to enjoy the park’s trails, beaches, amenities, and picnic tables, though there is no formal celebration because of COVID-19.
Angus says there are plans to make up for this next summer.
“Certainly next year on the civic holiday weekend, we will be running a five day family festival, free to all,” explains Angus. “It really was the celebration we had planned for this year, but because of COVID we had to postpone it. We’ve got a lot of funding in place, and the festival was worthwhile, so we’re rebranding it as 100 plus one.”
Chippewa Park was the first purpose built tourist attraction in Northwestern Ontario.
