PORT HAWKESBURY - This town's ambitious waterfront development plans, already including a partnership with a local community college campus and a restaurant set to open in July, could also soon see a new active-transportation trail and the re-opening of a community park that has been shut down since 2018.

Earlier this spring, town councillor Jason Aucoin suggested that the time had come to remove large boulders placed at a public space located at the intersections of North Granville Street and Prince Street. Home to some of the most pronounced views of the Strait of Canso and the Canso Causeway, the grassy area was shut down to public access three summers ago, when recreational vehicles and tent-users overran the site after a Web site promoting "free" Nova Scotia camping areas posted this portion of Port Hawkesbury, known locally as "Sunset Park."

Speaking to TELILE 24/7 host/producer Adam Cooke the day after Aucoin made his remarks at a regular meeting of Port Hawkesbury Town Council, Mayor Brenda Chisholm-Beaton expressed optimism that the town can soon put a plan in motion to allow the general public to safely access Sunset Park. However, she added that signage restricting camping and the parking of any vehicles on the same site will be strictly enforced. 

In the meantime, Chisholm-Beaton and her council colleagues are enthusiastic about the waterfront's potential as the summer approaches. The operators of the New Waterford restaurant Portside are currently hiring staff for the new satellite operation Portside Port Hawkesbury, which is targeted to open in mid-July at the waterfront complex known as The Station House if provincial gathering limits are increased by that point.

The mayor also praised the Cape Breton Partnership (CBP) and Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) for working with the town to convert its former Creamery building into the Strait Area Innovation Centre, which will house marine and ocean training opportunities connected to the NSCC's Port Hawkesbury-based Nautical Institute. 

She added that the town is also hoping to construct a new paved active-transportation (AT) trail between the main waterfront area and Sunset Park, replicating the success enjoyed over the past two years by a previous AT trail connecting the NSCC campus and the main commercial core of Reeves Street.