TIGNISH, P.E.I. — Judy Morrissey-Richard is hoping a business development and heritage project that's quietly being worked on will keep visitors in her town longer.
Morrissey-Richard, town councillor, says 40,000-60,000 people visit Tignish every year.
“They pass through, turn off Phillip Street, turn onto Dalton Avenue and go right to North Cape. So, they’re basically in and out,” she said.
“If we had something right in the municipality, then it would give them something to stay here for a day, or maybe stay overnight and make a couple of day trips out of it.”
Morrissey-Richard thinks the Tignish Olde Town Village concept, that the committee she’s on has been working toward, ticks many of the right boxes.
Also on the committee, which has been promoting the idea for the last four years, are Anne Arsenault from Tignish Initiatives, Tignish businessman Harley Perry and Ontario couple with direct ties to the town, Al Way and Faye LeClair. LeClair was born and raised in Tignish.
Way marvels at his spouse’s deep connection to the western P.E.I. town.
“That’s home,” he says.
And, in the 14 years he’s been visiting Tignish with her, Way says he has come to see it as home, too.
“If you can get 20,000 people to stop, and they all spend $100, which is not much nowadays, then that’s $2 million.”
Way, a property developer, first looked at development ideas for Tignish when Faye’s brother, Gerard, was municipal council chairman.
During a wedding party in Ontario about five years ago, while discussing Tignish with Anne Arsenault, Way learned about the number of visitors passing through on their way to North Cape, a tourist area just north of town.
“A lot of towns would love to have that kind of traffic count,” he says.
By the following year, he had initial plans for Tignish Olde Town Village, and a committee, in place.
“If you can get 20,000 people to stop, and they all spend $100, which is not much nowadays, then that’s $2 million,” Way says.
He adds the financial rewards shoot up significantly if a portion of the visitors choose to stay in the area overnight.
His plan includes the development of a new Main Street, angling from Dalton Ave to Church Street, and drawing upon history to replicate the train station and some of the shops that once existed in Tignish.
A town square with an open-air market and space for parking tour buses would also be included.
“Things always look good on paper, but we need an actual study in our hands before we can proceed with it.”
Besides drawing in tourists, Way thinks the development could be an avenue to draw many former Tignish residents back home.
“I think there is something here that can help breathe some more life back into the community.”
He estimates the cost of Phase One of the development, including infrastructure and buildings, at about $5 million and suggested the committee would be looking to the three levels of government to contribute.
Way insists he has nothing to gain from the project and has only gotten involved because of his love for Tignish.
Committee member Harley Perry is key to the development, Way says, as he owns most of the land where the development would occur and would donate it to the project.
There are also parcels of land at both the Church Street and Dalton Avenue entrances to the development which are owned by the Tignish Co-op.
The co-op held an information meeting for its membership on the proposal last month.
Co-op manager Darren MacKinnon says the board of directors is polling its membership about the committee’s request for access.
Morrissey-Richard suggests the committee has taken its concept about as far as it can go and now needs assurances of property access before ordering a feasibility study.
“Things always look good on paper, but we need an actual study in our hands before we can proceed with it.”
She estimates it could be another year or more before a decision is made on whether the project moves forward. If it does, it will be turned over at that point for Tignish Initiatives to manage.
