Care must be taken to ensure it does not become another “Norisle”
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Town of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands has no control over the swing bridge located in Little Current. The Manitoulin swing bridge is the oldest structure on a provincial highway in the province and is the property and under the control of the province.
To the Expositor:
Should Little Current decide the swing bridge remain after it is decommissioned, take a valuable lesson from the Norisle.
Now is the time to start planning, not just for its immediate retention, but the next 50 years. Should it remain in place permanently open it will cost money. It will require work to preserve and maintain it in the decades to come. The alternative is to have a piece of decaying scrap metal on the waterfront instead of a monument. Then there will come a time when it simply will need to be removed as old structures cannot escape the certainties of time and rust which always win in the end.
The simple truth is the longer it remains, the more it will cost to ultimately deal with as has been learned from the Norisle.
It is a large cost to be burdened by taxpayers of a small municipality now and in the future. Rational decisions and plans are needed now, and they start with an adult level conversation with the ratepayers who need a full, unbiased assessment of the future costs. Last minute crisis management will not work. Self-appointed and self-qualified experts are not the ones to be listened to. Heroics are not a plan. Forget about feel good plans to convert the bridge to a charging station for electric water craft or a conduit to guide the levitating automobiles of the future to the Island.
The bridge will only serve as a static monument and the ratepayers need to be informed as to what they are being obligated to so they can decide if they really want it.
Ronald Kay
Assiginack
