Thunder Bay Unseen

Superior History

Forest Park

While not as old as some developments in Thunder Bay, Forest Park still has its own hidden gems and covered up history. Starting as a subdivision at the western edge of Port Arthur, the West End became a fast growing example of all the promise that the city could offer the post-war families. Alas, the area grew too fast and is now in decline but still maintains its diversity and beauty.

The beauty of Forest Park lies in its urban forest. Trees abound in this area from the undeveloped lots to parks to the lush boulevards lining the streets.

In keeping with the 'forest' theme of the subdivision many of its streets are named for different species of trees

Like a jewel in the centre of the development lies the West End Recreation Centre. Though the main building is very ordinary, the center offers a baseball diamond, tennis courts and is the winter home to the West End Bruins Minor Hockey Team.

Surrounding the Recreation Centre are three of the 5 schools found in Forest Park. The school yards of each institution adds to the park's atmosphere and amenities.

Forest Park Public School is the most easily recognizable of all the schools with its distinctive purple colouring. It is a K to Grade 8 school consisting of two wings, as well as a large gymnasium/auditorium. One wing of the school is two stories tall. It was closed as a public school at the end of the 2007/08 school year but has been re-opened as a home for the Boys and Girls Club of Thunder Bay.

Across the West End baseball diamond from Forest Park School is St. Pius X School, a K to Grade 6 school for the Catholic Board.

Pius X is named for Pope Pius X, who undertook many changes in the way Catholics worshiped, restoring many of the ancient and historical rites, and doing away with modernist ideas and practices. In addition to bringing a more traditional approach to the catholic church, Pius X also saw to the codification of Canon Law.

Pius X School, like many of the schools built in the late 1950s and early 1960s, consists of a single floor. The school saw an addition of a gymnasium in the early 1980s. Due to current size constraints the school currently supports two portable classrooms to help house the student body.

The third school is Hammarskjold Public High school, one of the largest high schools in the city. The school has seen many additions over the years as the student population has grown and existing facilities proved to be inadequate. The most recent is the striking new library addition to the front of the school. Most striking about the front of the school is it's United Nations style collection of flags. Hammarskjold is named after the former UN Secretary-General who lost his life in a plane crash.

The artwork in front of Hammarskjold displays the name, the school's motto (loosely - Deeds Not Words, or rather Actions Speak Louder Than Words) , and the school's logo (which, by the graffiti in the lower right, also shows the school's team name).

A unique project by the students of Hammarskjold and Ecosuperior (I believe) is the recycling bins in place around the school grounds. No other high school in the city sports these unique environmentally conscious containers.

The playing field and outdoor track behind Hammarskjold backs onto the Junot Forest. The bleachers for spectators have been removed as they were old and unsafe. They have not yet been replaced.

Beyond Hammarskjold High school lies Walkover Street, a road currently split by the Thunder Bay Expressway. Originally it only ran from Clarkson Street through to Junot Avenue. It has been rebuilt many times due to the subsistence of the ground in the area, and is due to be rebuilt again.

Christ Lutheran Church offers services in Finn twice a month on the second and fourth Fridays.

The Good Shepherd Village is a seniors housing development that lies mostly hidden behind the Lutheran church.

Bethlehem Christian Reformed Church sports a uniquely prominent sign out front. The pentacle (or pentagram) is used, by some Christians, as a representation of the five wounds that Christ suffered on the Cross.

The church building itself is unique in that it features a large sloped roof and is has an attached residence prominently at the front rather than at the rear. The steeply sloped roof keeps snow from accumulating on the roof.

Salem Pentecostal Church also offers services in the Finn language, but on a weekly basis. The church's striking design allows for an abundance of early morning sunshine but it is diffused and not strongly direct.

Willow Towers apartments continues the Forest naming convention of Forest Park.

A simple, cubic apartment block with an important link to social development and social programming in the Thunder Bay Area.

Xavier Michon Terrace sports the plaque at right as a reminder of the buildings namesake.

Xavier Michon Terrace

This Apartment complex has been
named in memory of

Xavier Francis Michon

The founder of
the Native Housing Program

1995

Clarkson Avenue is named for Guy F. Clarkson who was a financial agent for the Visgar-Shear Lumber Company, which is now known as the Thunder Bay Lumber Company.

Another school in the Forest Park area is Algonquin Street Public School. Built in the years following World War II this school has also suffered from declining enrollment but, due to the large plot of land it sits upon, the Public School Board has opted to renovate and, possibly, expand the institution.

The rear of Algonquin School. Any proposed expansion would most likely happen at the rear of the wing on the left - such as the addition of a large gymnasium and more classroom space. The above wing is already an addition to the original school structure, as is (I am almost sure) the building's second floor.

Some old playground equipment in behind Algonquin School. Of an older, purely metal design, playground equipment like this is now a rarity in Thunder Bay and I am sure that this equipment will disappear at some point in the near future in favour of a safer, sanitized version like the equipment gracing the front of the school.

The actually housing areas of the Forest Park subdivision hold a few interesting sites on their own:

Poplar Street Park is a quite neighbourhood park featuring equipment and a large open green space.

Maple Avenue exists in two places in Forest Park. Separated from the main street is this small stub of a road that was originally planned to go through to John Street on the other side. Plans changed and a house was built on the lot instead, after the original street and sidewalks were built. The road still exists, providing access to the driveway of one house.

It also features a concrete wading pool, which was a feature at many city parks built through the 1960s and 1970s. Most of the pools have been removed from the parks due to safety and sanitary reasons. The pool still remains on Poplar Street, though it is not used for its original purpose.

Poplar Street park is also the site of an urban reforesting program and sports many new deciduous and coniferous trees.

A few places in Forest Park sport asphalt sidewalks linking the typical concrete sidewalks with each other and to other streets. Windsor Street was constructed without any sidewalks on its borders nor at the beginnings of any of its feeder streets. Those streets, built later on, do have sidewalks, however, and this seems like the preferred low cost alternative to actually building proper sidewalks.

Across John Street but still part of the original Forest Park lies Bishop E. Q. Jennings School. It is a senior elementary school housing Grade 7 and 8 students.

Named for the last Bishop of Fort William and the first Bishop of Thunder Bay, E. Q. Jennings. He was responsible for the initiation of construction of the new St. Patrick's Cathedral in Fort William, the growth of new church congregations and buildings in the city and diocese, and the expansion of the Catholic School board in Thunder Bay proper.

The school, itself, backs onto the lands of George Burke Park with a spur of that trail system linking to the school property.

Update: The front was renovated asthetically in the summer of 2008

Nearby E.Q. Jennings school is the W.J. Griffis Children's Centre and Community Access Centre. Named for W. J. Griffis (obviously) but I have no idea who that is. I am attempting to find out and get that answer in here for all of you.

In behind the WJ Griffis Centre lies Griffis Greens. I suspect that this is a long-term project by the Centre to enhance the neighbouring areas and offer a more aesthetically pleasing connection to George Burke Park, which lies directly behind this over grown thicket.

At the opposite end of Forest Park from the WJ Griffis Centre lies this undeveloped patch of forest and marsh. Originally meant to be an extension of Picton Avenue and its associated neighbourhood the development never took place. The lot has been sold for the purpose of developing some sort of commercial establishment like a strip mall but nothing has happened with it yet.

On the other side of the undeveloped plot lies Picton Avenue Park, a popular hangout for young adults and children alike. It includes a basketball court, playground, and skating rink in the winter. Picton Avenue itself has been finalized into a cu-de-sac.

Along this stretch of Picton Avenue the subsistence of the ground levels is easily visible. Merely examing the front of each house and seeing how far the ground has retreated from the front steps is all it takes. In almost every case it is close to half a metre.

The opposite end of Picton Avenue is a scenic neighbourhood. Built to provide low cost housing to low income families, the homes are all duplexes and of the same basic design.

Picton Avenue was named as part of the same 'Wellington's Life' theme as many of the neighbouring streets. Major General Sir Thomas Picton dies at Waterloo in 1815.

Windsor Street also derives its name from 'Wellington's Life.' Windsor Castle was the site of a huge celebration of the victory of the Battle of Waterloo.

Windsor Street is also home to low-cost housing, this time is the style of british row-housing. Various public light fixtures in the development compliment this theme.

The end of Windsor Street, at the Thunder Bay Expressway. Prior to the highway's development, Windsor Street extended across the expanse linking to the opposite side. It's compacted road surface is still visible as well as the hump of materials used to make the base of the roadway. The stub of a street also still sports a stop sign.

Blucher Avenue derives its name from Gebhart Leberecht von Blucher, a Prussian Field Marshal who was an ally of Wellington's at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

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