Town of St. Marys to clean up fishing quarry and consider future uses

02 May Town of St. Marys to clean up fishing quarry and consider future uses

By Galen Simmons
Building off its recent success with the Super Splash Inflatable Waterpark at the St. Marys Swimming Quarry, St. Marys council is now turning its attention to the town’s other quarry – the fishing quarry – with the goal of cleaning up the former industrial site and considering opportunities for its future use.
At the April 23 council meeting, councillors approved a recommendation from the town’s strategic priorities committee to have staff develop a plan that focuses on both cleaning up the fishing quarry and increasing opportunities for passive and active uses of the facility.
“The one area (along that portion of Water Street South) that has not been developed is the fishing quarry,” town aquatics manager Andrea Slade told councillors at their April 16 strategic priorities committee meeting. “This area has potential for advancement with a number of options to explore.”
Like the swimming quarry, the fishing quarry was a previous industrial site – a source of crushed limestone that was exported by rail. Today, the area is fenced with three defined openings for fishing access, however the access paths are not accessible and there are warning signs at the entrances stating as much.
As the area was previously an industrial site, many remnants of the previous industrial use remain today. Concrete supports and footings, many of which are used as swimming platforms, are visible and can be reached via unmaintained “goat” paths. In addition, metal cables and materials can be seen adjacent to the access paths.
Swimming at the fishing quarry is restricted by bylaw as rescue access is problematic at best, and no sonar survey of the water has been completed to identify underwater dangers. Overall, usage is minimal with just a small amount of fishing and illegal swimming in the peak summer months.
According to the staff report, the fishing quarry – somewhat ironically – is not large enough to support significant fish populations without an external food supply and support, so stocking the quarry with fish is not an option for future use.
While the fishing quarry requires significant clean up both to reduce town liability and prepare it for future use, Slade said the popularity of the inflatable water park at the nearby swimming quarry has attracted businesses interested in operating in the fishing quarry including Boarder Pass, a wakeboard park operator from Sarnia. Slade said town staff have also been approached with the notion of establishing a scuba-diving partnership at the fishing quarry that could offer scuba training and other services similar to scuba quarries at the Sherkston Quarry near Pot Colborne, the Innerkip Quarry and the Kirkfield Quarry.
“The reality is (the inflatable water park is) bringing people to our community and I think, even with the quarry and that whole area, we need to reinvent,” Mayor Al Strathdee said during the committee discussion. “We have a resource that other people don’t have that’s sitting there dormant. … If staff were to come forward with some opportunities that would bring people, I think it’s incumbent on us to look at it and I think we should be open to that.
“ … If there’s 500-1,000 more people that came to St. Marys with money in their pockets; (this isn’t) a big investment. … We’ve had two seasons of the inflatable (water park) doing really well and being a destination and … I know there are certainly a few businesses that have done really well because of it. That’s the goal; they drive through town and (the economic benefit) spins off. We’re in a very, very competitive market in terms of tourism. We could broaden our market with … some sort of cost-sharing (partnership) and this is stuff we should probably be doing anyway. A lot of those trees need to come down. A lot of them are dead. The fence, whether it stays or goes; something’s got to happen. If we were to partner with a business proposal where someone was to inject some dough into our community and bring some people, why wouldn’t we look at that?”
As part of the same committee recommendation, council also gave staff the green light to explore additional amenities and modifications that could maximize the recreational-tourism potential of the swimming quarry.
This summer alone, the town is already planning to host themed, half-day summer camps at the quarry, offer rental opportunities upstairs at the Lind Sportsplex, partner with Tourism London to host the Ontario Summer Games triathlon, run a trial tourism-kiosk program and enhance influencer promotion of the swimming quarry among other improvements.