Thunder Bay Unseen

From the end of Donald Street lies the entrance to the park. Together with a scenic lookout that enables you to see over the almost constantly passing trains, the park barely registers on the radar of most motorists passing by on Simpson Street.
The actual entrance to the park lies through the old Donald Street Underpass, a pedestrian crossing beneath the CP lines that bordered the river. The crossing was to allow workers to be able to safely walk to and from work at the grain elevators and docks along the river.

Through the underpass lies Animikii - Flies the Thunder. A piece of public art, it was created by Anne Allardyce and erected by the city in 1992. It is a representation of the Thunder Bird, an important creature in the folklore of the First Nations people who lived at the Lakehead before the arrival of the Europeans.

The base features a compass point showing the direction true north.

The base of the sculpture also features a unique inscription in english, phonetic Ojibwa, and Ojibwa symbology explaining the story of Animikii.

From the giant who sleeps in the bay - NAANABOZHOO

Across the river with three mouths - GAA-MINISTIGWEYAAG

To the heights of Mount McKay - ANIMIKII-WAJIW

On small tugs the name of the ship is not painted on the bow, the name of the company is painted there instead. The name appears on the stern and on the wheel house.

The river walk consists of a concrete pier that runs alongside an access road, where people can park their vehicles.
The pier runs along the edge of the bank, actually in the river, overtop the remains of the previous industrial docks.
In some places you can see the tops of the wood logs that used to be the base of those earlier docks just above the surface of the river.
In other places there are large concrete anchoring points for the docks that came later.

Another key feature of the heritage park is the display of a VIA Rail diesel engine and three coaches. Currently undergoing extensive repairs and restoration the train is meant to be a static display that will eventually house a restaurant and possibly a retail enterprise. The engine, 6510, was built in 1955 and served CP Rail's passenger service before becoming part of the VIA Rail service. The other cars were all built in 1954 including a Class 'A' coach, a sleeper car, and a Cafe Lounge car acquired from CN in 1963. The entire project is a coordinated effort between CP Rail Pensioners and a Local Businessman.

"This 1950's vintage train was
presented to
His Worship Mayor Ken Boshcoff
representing the people and
City of Thunder Bay, by former
Director Andrew Coffey for
VIA Rail Canada."

19 July 2002

In Memoriam
of the 50 Men Who Paid the Supreme
Sacrifice in World War II 1938-1945
Serving the Paterson Steamship Ltd.

Lord God of Hosts, Be with us yet
Lest We Forget - Lest We Forget
And He Bringeth Them Unto Their Desired Haven

The main vehicular access point to the park is via the CPR Subway, a service road beneath the CPR Rail yard near the Syndicate Street Station. The Clearance measurements on the bridge are still written in Imperial Measurements even though Canada transitioned to the Metric System over 30 years ago.

At the south end of the park is the Thunder Bay Rowing Club. The history of the club stretches back to 1904, over 100 years. The current clubhouse was built over the foundation pad of a pre-existing building. Above is the floating dock that the club uses to launch their boats into the Kam River.