PORT HAWKESBURY – As a busy summer winds down, town officials here are seeking residents’ advice for waterfront upgrades and slowly re-opening recreation facilities that had been shuttered for months due to the arrival of COVID-19 and its subsequent social-distancing restrictions in Nova Scotia.

The Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre’s fitness centre re-opened on August 4, over half a year after the town officially resumed control of the facility following the departure of the Cape Breton YMCA in late January. While pandemic-era protocols scuttled the town’s grand re-opening of the fitness centre and its FitPass program for gym customers, Mayor Brenda Chisholm-Beaton reported an increase in visitation following the August re-opening and expressed hope that similar Civic Centre fitness features, such as the facility’s walking track, would re-open within the coming days.

In the meantime, the ice has returned to the Civic Centre’s Veterans’ Memorial Arena and minor hockey programs are making their way back into the facility. However, these teams will definitely not include the SAERC Saints high school team, as hockey is one of the sports not permitted to proceed during this academic year, following a late-summer directive from the Nova Scotia Students Athletic Federation (NSSAF).

The town will also have to wait until mid-September to see if one of its highest-profile sports franchises, the Junior “B” Strait Pirates, will take to the ice this fall. Port Hawkesbury’s Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Terry Doyle, confirmed in early September that the Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League (NSJHL) will hold its annual general meeting next week, with this gathering likely to seal the fate of the Pirates and their fellow NSJHL clubs.

As well, the Strait Area Pool – located at the SAERC high school site – is aiming to re-open on October 1, according to Port Hawkesbury’s Director of Marketing, Recreation, Tourism and Culture, Paula Davis. However, this plan is still undergoing serious examination by the town’s aquatics director and is subject to revision based on developments through the remainder of September, Davis added.

Water of a different sort consumed Port Hawkesbury officials and residents earlier in the summer, as the town hosted an open-house in early August to garner suggestions for a major waterfront development project that is also projected to revitalize Granville Street. Once seen as the official “downtown” area of Port Hawkesbury, the street is much quieter in the 21st century and has not seen significant activity for several decades.

However, Mayor Chisholm-Beaton spoke positively of the potential for development along the Granville Street and waterfront areas, particularly in terms of the enthusiastic turn-out for the August open house. She is optimistic that further discussions of this nature can take place in the weeks and months to come.