The Town of Port Hawkesbury is keeping an eye on plans to revive the Visitor Information Centre in Port Hastings.
At last night’s monthly public meeting of Port Hawkesbury Town Council, CAO Terry Doyle was asked to provide an update.
Doyle said municipalities and Destination Cape Breton are investigating the impacts and cost of reviving the VIC which lies adjacent to the Canso Causeway. He told council there is no concrete framework at the moment for the new VIC.
Mayor Brenda Chisholm-Beaton said the matter can be revisited at the committee-of-the-whole session on April 21.
During last month’s meeting, town councillors expressed their concerns over the loss of the VIC which were part of provincial budget cuts to tackle at $1.2 billion deficit.
Swing bridge at the Canso Causeway, Port Hastings. (Government of Nova Scotia photo)
It was announced by the Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage in February that VICs across Nova Scotia, including Port Hastings, were closed.
At the time, Chisholm-Beaton said the item was put on the agenda because of the impact on the Cape Breton tourism industry..
The mayor said she spoke with Inverness Warden Bonny MacIsaac and circled back to see how the town can help following a meeting of Inverness Municipal Council on March 5
During the Question Period in March, Rosie Weiman, a former employee of the VIC in Port Hastings, spoke to council about the lack of in-person contact with visitors traveling to and from Cape Breton, as a result of the closure. The former VIC staffer said not everyone goes online before traveling and this loss of service will also impact local businesses.
The mayor said town officials planned to meet with the former employees, Inverness MLA Kyle MacQuarrie, as well as the local representative on the Destination Cape Breton board, to get more information.