Cities Civil and Municipal July 2024 Public Sector

Prescott, Ontario – United Counties of Leeds and Grenville

July 29, 2024

Prescott, Ontario

The “Fort Town” charts a new course

A transportation and logistics hub defined by roads, rail, and the river

Strategically situated in an area known for its economic vitality and natural beauty, the quaint yet bustling town of Prescott, Ontario hovers around a population nearing 4,200. The town represents a transportation and logistics hub for the region because of its proximity to Highways 401 and 406, the Prescott-Ogdensburg International Bridge, and the Canadian National Railway, which runs through town. Indeed, its largest employer is Kriska Transportation, which delivers temperature-controlled truckload commodities to towns and cities across northeast Canada.

Other major companies based in Prescott include Invista, a global manufacturer of ingredients in the nylon and polypropylene value chains; Ingredion, a global ingredients company that produces sweeteners, starches, and biomaterials used in foods and pharmaceutical products; and Northern Cables, a world-class manufacturer of commercial and industrial power cables.

As it has been in the past, the St. Lawrence River is still a great asset to Prescott. The St. Lawrence Seaway, of which the river is a part, is open for commercial navigation between each spring and fall, the Sandra S. Lawn Harbour and Marina in Prescott serves as a top recreational boating destination, and the town’s RiverWalk Park is fast becoming a popular event destination for locals and tourists alike. But the truth is there is much, much more going on in Prescott today, and the town’s administrators are keen to let the world know.

A small town with big-town plans

“In the past, we’ve been known as the ‘Fort Town,’ says Chief Administrative Officer, Matthew Armstrong. “And while we do appreciate Fort Wellington (one of the best preserved nineteenth-century fortifications in Canada) and it’s being a historic site, I think we’re so much more than that. So, we’re changing focus to tout some of the other things that make Prescott special.” “We’re a small town with lots of aspirations to be a big town,” adds Mayor Gauri Shankar. “And we’re very proud of our enhancements over the last few years.”

A key part of Prescott’s renewal agenda is its Community Improvement Plan (CIP) which was put in place to spur downtown development and revitalization. “The CIP program is a key driver to what we’re doing and how we’re reinvigorating the entire downtown area,” Armstrong explains. “That’s our key focus – providing money and investment to help retain and expand businesses and to help them spur their investments in their properties.”

Economic Development Officer, Dana Valentyne explains: “The CIP program is the main thrust of the transformation that we’ve seen in the downtown core over the past five years. It’s a great incentive program that offers a combination of grants and loans. We just approved an amended program that provides up to $22,000 in non-repayable grants and up to $100,000 in loans for every individual commercial storefront in the downtown core area. We’ve had several businesses take up that program and it’s resulted in $31 million in reinvestment into the community.”

“It’s a very robust program,” Valentyne continues. “It provides tax incentives, as well. There’s a grant for any tax increases that a property is subjected to for the first five years, as well as a building permit fee reduction for any made improvements. And it provides funding throughout the community. We have a brownfield area, so it provides remediation funding, and then we have funding available for the employment corps, which covers the rest of the commercial core within the community. We also provide funding for heritage-designated properties. So there’s not one property in Prescott that wouldn’t be eligible for some funding.”

Over the past few years, many new businesses have emerged. “It’s been a big focus of ours,” Valentyne states, “trying to bring in non-traditional, unique niche businesses.” Some new downtown residents include Watergirl Quilt Co., which is one of the most renowned quilt stores in Canada; Katerina’s Coffee Shop; the Olde Magick Shop; and several retail clothing boutiques: Home Décor Clothing, Cozy Clozet, and Once@436 Boutique and Market.

“We’ve had a real transformation in our restaurants, as well,” she adds. “There are a lot of new restaurants coming on the scene that have transformed vacant commercial spaces. It’s amazing to see the transformation that’s happened. The downtown has become a thriving hub of the community that we hope to continue to support.”

In addition, over the past few years, the town has continued to invest in the downtown with beautification projects in various smaller pockets. It’s now planning a new larger downtown streetscaping project, as well. “We’re just entering the design stage of that,” Valentyne reports. “The council has set aside some significant funding to proceed with the design phase and then we’ll be pursuing implementation funding from there.”

Infrastructure projects proceed apace

Meanwhile, Shankar reports that the town is busy with several other infrastructure projects.

“Every year, we pick a section of the marina, one that needs to be replaced,” he begins. “This year, the ‘D’ dock got a quarter of a million dollar enhancement. We’re constantly upgrading the marina and making it more accessible for bigger boats and more visitor traffic, as well. We’re also in the process, right now, of putting up our new water tower; it should be done this summer. It will increase our capacity almost two-fold. We just finished a big project where we did the overpass over the railway line. That was well over a million dollars. And we’re always doing road upgrades..”

“For our next big addition, we’ve applied for funding, along with our neighboring municipalities, for a wastewater and water management upgrade. It’s about a $40 million project that will provide enough water and wastewater for 1,500 more houses. Now, we’re landlocked, so we can’t build 1,500 houses within the town of Prescott, but our neighbors can and we can help provide them with the infrastructure and services they need,” he continues.

Sharing infrastructure and services, as well as their costs, is something that Prescott and its neighbors do quite often. Recently, the town built a brand new arena at the Seymour Recreation Complex, called the Alaine Chartrand Community Centre, named after the two-time Canadian national figure skating champion, who also happens to be a hometown heroine. The new arena has a single ice pad and seating for 800, a walking track, and community rooms.

While the $13.2 million cost for the arena’s construction is being split between the federal and provincial governments who are kicking in $9.7 million, and Prescott, which will pay $3.5 million, the annual $200,000 operating costs will be covered by Prescott, Augusta, and Edwardsburgh/Cardinal based on the percentage of their populations, since their residents will also be using the facility. “We truly appreciate the partnership we have with Augusta and Edwardsburgh/Cardinal to make it come to fruition,” Armstrong states.

Prescott is also home to the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Griffon, a high endurance multi-tasked vessel and light icebreaker. Completed in 1970, the Griffon provides icebreaking services along eastern Lake Ontario and upriver along the St. Lawrence River to Montreal. “The Coast Guard has been a very good community partner and we’re working together on several projects,”

Shankar relates. “Right now, we’re trying to improve the garden inset around the Coast Guard base because it’s on King Street, which is a main street, and it’s visible to everyone. So, we’re trying to beautify that.”

A new hotel and a focus on tourism

Prescott is also getting its first branded hotel — a new 69-room Quality Inn & Suites. “That has been on the town council’s bucket list for decades,” says Shankar. “To finally cut the ribbon for the groundbreaking, this year, was a great event. And we look forward to the opening in the fall. I think it will open up so many more opportunities for businesses, for sports teams, for any type of stay-and-play packages that we can provide through our golf course, or through the St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival, which has been running for over 20 years and is a huge visitor attraction.”

Enhanced tourism is definitely on the town’s agenda. Last year, Armstrong reported that the town hosted the area’s Poutine Feast for the first time. (For the uninitiated, poutine is an iconic Canadian dish consisting of French fries and cheese curds topped with brown gravy.) This year, it will run again, and in 2025, Prescott will host Ribfest, a major event that is expected to attract thousands of people to the community.

The town also hosted the Canine Watersports for the first time last year and did so again this May. (Canine Watersports Canada is the nation’s premier dock-jumping organization.) The town will also host the 112th Eastern Ontario Firefighters Games this summer.

RiverWalk Park, a city property that sits next to the marina on the St. Lawrence River has become a popular place for community events, and each Thursday through Sunday, from Victoria Day in May through Labour Day in September, the town sponsors “Prescott Pop-ups,” which features local vendors, artisans, and specialty food offerings.

“From a tourism standpoint, the Prescott Pop-ups has been a key driver,” says Valentyne. “It has brought a lot of people to that area that was never really explored before and it serves as a gateway to attract people who are coming off of Highway 2.”

“One of the most recent events that was relatively unexpected was the solar eclipse. We had about 5,000 people descend on our community for that event and it was a fantastic opportunity to introduce the town to a lot of new people who may have passed through before but never took the time to stop. That’s the biggest thing about Prescott: we’re this undiscovered gem and if you do happen to take the time to stop and explore the community, you immediately fall in love and see the potential of our great open waterfront space and what that offers from an event and tourism perspective.”

Providing the right kinds of housing

While Prescott is working to lure more businesses and more tourists to its 4.9 square kilometer footprint, it also has plans to create more housing in a community that has precious little room to expand. “Mixed-use is our primary focus from a housing perspective,” Valentyne shares. “We’re trying to attract a wide demographic — couples, young families, seniors – and provide them with a mix of housing. So we’re working with developers to accommodate a lot of those housing needs. We’re also looking at some infilling options. That’s going to be our approach in the future.”

“We’re seeing some ingenious and creative ways of doing infill,” adds Armstrong. “Developers are thinking outside the box a bit and seeing how they can make use of either existing buildings – semis (semi-detached houses) being able to split the upstairs from the downstairs so out of a two-unit semi, you get four dwellings – or existing lots to enhance the number of overall units.”

“In our investment program in the downtown, our CIP has also spurred people to develop their upper floors for residential,” Armstrong continues.

“Over the last three or four years, there’s been over 50 apartment units that have been rejuvenated downtown, or come online. We’re excited about bringing more people to live downtown, which will further spur the commercial side of it, as well. We’re working with a couple of developers that are taking buildings that aren’t necessarily suited for their size anymore; splitting them up and doing multi-unit apartments.”

“At the same time, we have conditionally sold two parcels in the town and that is for 224 units we’re looking to build. It’s the municipality putting its money where its mouth is and willing to divest itself of vacant or underutilized lots. Finally, the backside of Town Hall has been vacant for many years. We had a developer ask where there might be a spot for affordable housing. That led to the council looking at that back lot and we’re moving forward with an application process to build affordable housing there. The town is committed to making sure that not only are new dwellings built, but affordable ones as well. We embrace that because we see that as an affordable way to increase the housing stock using our current infrastructure; not having to add additional water and sewer to a lot, but to utilize what’s there. That drives down the overall cost to build that unit, so it’s something we very much support.”

Mayor Shankar agrees that by promoting mixed-use in new construction, adding more downtown apartments, and finding a way to increase the number of units in already built homes and vacant lots, Prescott can resolve its housing needs. “That’s our best way, looking forward,” he avers.

“I think we’re at a point now where almost all of our downtown businesses are full, and that’s a good sign, and so are the 50 apartments. If we can keep building on that number, and keep beautifying the downtown, it creates a welcoming atmosphere, more customers for businesses, and overall growth in the economy. So there are a lot of positive things going on and we’re in a great spot here.”