Business View Civil and Municipal | January 2021

169 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL JANUARY 2021 Grand Falls-Wind “EXPLOITS” ALONG THE RIVER allows tourists to view the fish as they struggle to reach their breeding ground. When the mill closed it could have been detrimental to the town, but bridging into tourism has helped keep the local economy thriving. Lawrence Ducey, Grand Falls-Windsor Manager of Economic Development admits, “There is much more to do but we continue to develop our community as very much a tourism destination. One of the biggest attractions is the river. That was the reason why the pulp and G rand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland, was once a town defined by industry. A pulp and paper mill set up in the town in 1905 because of the Exploits River that generated enough hydro to sustain it, but when it closed in 2009, the town didn’t let that destroy it. Instead the municipality dug in and decided to create a new identity in the tourism industry with mountain bike trails, cross-country skiing trails, and river sports like canoeing and kayaking. The river, itself, is abundant with salmon swimming upstream and a unique underwater observatory