Current River, Thunder Bay, Ontario
Encyclopedia
| Current River | |
|---|---|
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| Looking south at Boulevard Lake |
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| Population 4,780 |
Ward Current River |
| Location of Current River in Thunder Bay | |
Current River is a neighbourhood located north east of Port Arthur
Port Arthur, Ontario
Port Arthur was a city in Northern Ontario which amalgamated with Fort William and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of Thunder Bay in January 1970. Port Arthur was the district seat of Thunder Bay District.- History :...
in the city of Thunder Bay
Thunder Bay
-In Canada:Thunder Bay is the name of three places in the province of Ontario, Canada along Lake Superior:*Thunder Bay District, Ontario, a district in Northwestern Ontario*Thunder Bay, a city in Thunder Bay District*Thunder Bay, Unorganized, Ontario...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. It is separated from the main urban area of Thunder Bay by the Current River Greenway
Current River Greenway
The Current River Greenway is a 263 hectare greenway located in Current River neighbourhood in the north end of Thunder Bay, Ontario along the Current River....
, a large parkland along the river
Current River (Ontario)
The Current River is a river in Northwestern Ontario, Canada which empties into Lake Superior. It rises out of Current Lake, north west of the city of Thunder Bay, curves through a number of small lakes, including Onion Lake , before heading north to empty into Thunder Bay at the northern edge of...
after which the neighbourhood was named. It is home to approximately 4,780 people and has an ageing and declining population
Population decline
Population decline can refer to the decline in population of any organism, but this article refers to population decline in humans. It is a term usually used to describe any great reduction in a human population...
.
Current River is located entirely in Current River Ward and is represented on Thunder Bay City Council
Thunder Bay City Council
The Thunder Bay City Council is the governing body of the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It consists of a mayor and twelve councillors. The mayor and five of the councillors are elected at large, with one councillor being elected for each of the city's seven wards: Current River, McIntyre,...
by Andrew Foulds.
History
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and many homes in the neighbourhood are "Victory Homes", a post-war building style that allowed fast manufacture of single-family dwellings. Development in the neighbourhood progressed northward, and as one travels further north Victory Homes become less common, being replaced with more contemporary building styles. A small cluster of highrise apartment
Apartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
s is located beside an outcrop
Outcrop
An outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth. -Features:Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most places the bedrock or superficial deposits are covered by a mantle of soil and vegetation and cannot be...
of the Canadian Shield
Canadian Shield
The Canadian Shield, also called the Laurentian Plateau, or Bouclier Canadien , is a vast geological shield covered by a thin layer of soil that forms the nucleus of the North American or Laurentia craton. It is an area mostly composed of igneous rock which relates to its long volcanic history...
in the southernmost portion of the residential neighbourhood, and offers its residents a view of the Current River Greenway and Thunder Bay.
Geography
Current River is located in the northeast portion of Thunder Bay. It is located east of the Current RiverCurrent River (Ontario)
The Current River is a river in Northwestern Ontario, Canada which empties into Lake Superior. It rises out of Current Lake, north west of the city of Thunder Bay, curves through a number of small lakes, including Onion Lake , before heading north to empty into Thunder Bay at the northern edge of...
and Boulevard Lake and north of Lake Superior. The land inclines as one travels north from the Lake Superior and west from Hodder Avenue.
Economy
Lake Superior
Lake Superior is the largest of the five traditionally-demarcated Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Minnesota, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. It is the largest freshwater lake in the...
to the south and east of the neighbourhood is an abundance of industries. Separated from the main neighbourhood by Hodder Avenue and the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
and Canadian National Railway
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....
mainlines is the Port Arthur Shipbuilding Company (PASCO) drydock and shipyard
Shipyard
Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...
, which has been operating since 1909, and the Thunder Bay Fine Papers mill, formerly Cascades
Cascades (company)
Founded in 1964, Cascades produces, converts and markets packaging and tissue products composed mainly of recycled fibres. Cascades employs more than 11,000 men and women in more than 100 modern, versatile operating units in North Amercica and Europe....
. Further east is the abandoned Smurfit-Stone factory, and the Bare Point water treatment plant
Bare Point water treatment plant
The Bare Point Water Treatment Plant is the primary water filtration plant in the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario, drawing 113.6 million litres from Lake Superior per day. The plant uses a Zeeweed 1000 Version 3 Ultra-Filtration system, the first of its kind in the world, which reduces the need for...
which is the main source of drinking water
Drinking water
Drinking water or potable water is water pure enough to be consumed or used with low risk of immediate or long term harm. In most developed countries, the water supplied to households, commerce and industry is all of drinking water standard, even though only a very small proportion is actually...
in Thunder Bay. Grain elevator
Grain elevator
A grain elevator is a tower containing a bucket elevator, which scoops up, elevates, and then uses gravity to deposit grain in a silo or other storage facility...
s located south of the Current River dominate the view toward the lake.
Current River is home to a small selection of commercial businesses. Mainly located along Hodder Avenue near Arundel Street, the neighbourhood is home to a strip mall
Strip mall
A strip mall is an open-area shopping center where the stores are arranged in a row, with a sidewalk in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in front...
with a pharmacy and grocery store, a convenience store
Convenience store
A convenience store, corner store, corner shop, commonly called a bodega in Spanish-speaking areas of the United States, is a small store or shop in a built up area that stocks a range of everyday items such as groceries, toiletries, alcoholic and soft drinks, and may also offer money order and...
and gas station, a bank, and several restaurants and coffee shops. Most businesses in the neighbourhood are locally owned.
Transportation
Arterial road
An arterial road, or arterial thoroughfare, is a high-capacity urban road. The primary function of an arterial road is to deliver traffic from collector roads to freeways, and between urban centres at the highest level of service possible. As such, many arteries are limited-access roads, or feature...
that bridges the Current River and connects the community to the Shuniah neighbourhood. Hodder Avenue is the main north-south thoroughfare
Thoroughfare
A thoroughfare is a place of transportation intended to connect one location to another. Highways, roads, and trails are examples of thoroughfares used by a variety of general traffic. On land a thoroughfare may refer to anything from a rough trail to multi-lane highway with grade separated...
and forms the backbone of the community's small commercial strip. Grenville Avenue, which is separated into two sections by the Current River Playfield, formed the neighbourhood's original business corridor.
Thunder Bay Transit
Thunder Bay Transit
Thunder Bay Transit is the public transit operator in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It was formed in 1970, after the amalgamation of the cities of Port Arthur and Fort William and their respective transit agencies...
route 1 Mainline-Current River makes a counter-clockwise loop through the neighbourhood and brings residents south to downtown Port Arthur.
Education
Current River is home to two schools. Claude Garton Public School is part of the Lakehead Public Schools system and offers French immersionFrench immersion
French immersion is a form of bilingual education in which a child who does not speak French as his or her first language receives instruction in school in French...
classes grades JK-8, and is located in the southern part of the neighbourhood. St. Paul which is grades JK-6Catholic School
Catholic school
Catholic schools are maintained parochial schools or education ministries of the Catholic Church. the Church operates the world's largest non-governmental school system...
is located in the northern part of Current River, and is part of the Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board
Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board
The Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board oversees all Catholic schools in the Thunder Bay CMA and the townships of Gorham and Ware in Ontario, Canada. It administers education at 13 elementary schools, 2 senior elementary, and 2 secondary schools....
. Public school students from Current River attend Superior Collegiate and Vocational Institute
Superior Collegiate and Vocational Institute
Superior Collegiate and Vocational Institute is a high school in Thunder Bay, Ontario and is part of the Lakehead District School Board system. The school opened in September, 2009.-History:...
, and Catholic students attend St. Ignatius
St. Ignatius High School (Thunder Bay)
St. Ignatius High School is a Catholic high school located in the north end of Thunder Bay, Ontario. It is part of the Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board, and its amenities include a chapel. It offers the Advanced Placement programme and in 2008 was rated the best high school in Thunder Bay...
, located on the other side of Boulevard Lake.
Recreation
Current River is the location of the largest park in Thunder Bay, the Current River Greenway. The 260 hectare (650 acre) park includes Boulevard Lake, one of the Thunder Bay's most popular summer destinations. The Current River Playfield, located in the middle of Current River, includes a community centreCommunity centre
Community centres or community centers or jumping recreation centers are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole community or for a specialised group within...
, arena, baseball diamonds, soccer fields, and seasonal ice rinks.
The municipally operated Strathcona Golf Course
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
is located to the east of Current River, and is an 18-hole, 72-par course. Centennial Park, a recreation of a 20th century logging
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
camp, is located northwest of the neighbourhood. The Terry Fox Memorial and Lookout is northeast of the neighbourhood, located along Highway 11
Highway 11 (Ontario)
King's Highway 11 is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. At , it is the second longest highway in the province after Highway 17. Highway 11 begins at Highway 400 in Barrie, and arches through northern Ontario, around Lake Superior, to the Ontario–Minnesota border...
/17
Highway 17 (Ontario)
King's Highway 17, more commonly known as Highway 17, is a provincially maintained highway and the primary route of the Trans-Canada Highway through the Canadian province of Ontario. It begins at the Manitoba border west of Kenora and ends south of Arnprior at the western terminus of Highway 417, ...
. It commemorates Terry Fox
Terry Fox
Terrance Stanley "Terry" Fox , was a Canadian humanitarian, athlete, and cancer research activist. In 1980, with one leg having been amputated, he embarked on a cross-Canada run to raise money and awareness for cancer research...
's Marathon of Hope and offers panoramic views of the lake.