Business View Civil and Municipal | April/May 2022

85 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 3 TOWNSHI P OF WA INFLEET , ONTAR IO and will position the Township for increased safety and fire coverage for the next 50 to 75 years,” says the Mayor. The township is also allocating $1.5 million for upgrades to its recreation complex, including improved drainage on the soccer fields, parking lot improvements, a new walking trail and pavilion, renovated tennis courts and upgraded washroom facilitates with enhanced accessibility features. Richard Nan, Wainfleet Manager of Operations, adds, “This is a very large and intense program that also includes upgrading lighting facilities for the baseball diamond. We were fortunate enough to receive a grant from both the federal and provincial government, so that’s one of our big projects going on this year.” Serving the region for more than 70 years, Ben Berg Farm and Industrial Equipment Limited is one of the township’s largest employers and is currently building a 25,000 sq ft building to include a warehouse, showroom, and service 155 York Street London, ON N6A 1A8 www.spriet.ca P: 519-672-4100 F: 519-433-9351 E: mail@spriet.ca A R C H I T E C T U R A L Assembly, Recreational & Community Facilities,Commercial, Industrial, Institutional, & Residential Buildings E N G I N E E R I N G Water Supply & Distribution Systems Storm Water & Municipal Drainage Roadways, Bridges & Culverts Subdivision Services & Site Planning area. Gibson notes, “They sell equipment way further abroad than just in the Niagara Region. And it’s not just farm equipment. They sell everything you need for your home, as well, like riding garden tractors. They are a huge business here and in all of Niagara and Southern Ontario.” Quick Mix Materials, on Highway 3, has also served the community for more than 50 years – manufacturing high quality premixed concrete, mortars, and related repair products and also offers specialized services such as custom toll blending, packaging and small and large scale rotary kiln drying. The company is now starting to build a 14,000 sq ft expansion for a new warehouse, silos and dryers. Another important business, D & D Diamond Cutting and Coring, employs about 40 people in their industrial concrete cutting operations. Gibson states, “They are all excellent companies and we’re so pleased to have them in Wainfleet.” The township’s administrative buildings are located in Wainfleet Village,, which was known as Marshville until the 1920s. The village is also home to the Marshville Heritage Village that hosts an annual Heritage Festival drawing more than 10,000 people from around the world to take a look into life in the 1850s. The Heritage Village boasts a working blacksmith shop and weavery along with buildings and working artifacts actually built in the 1800s and moved to the location. The Heritage Festival takes place every Labour Day weekend. After two years on pause due to COVID-19, Mayor Gibson is hoping to see the township light up with people and community events again in the next few years. He admits, “The pandemic really put a lot of things on hold for everybody –Wainfleet included – and it would be really nice to get the community back to normal, where we can have those festivals and events and our farmers’ markets. The Marshville Heritage Festival and the Wainfleet Fall Fair are just what we need to bring the community back out and back together again. We’re so looking forward to that happening soon!”