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Destruction of Niagara-on-the-Lake
Final stage, report warns
Anne Marie Owens
National Post
Niagara-on-the-Lake, the picturesque Ontario community that calls itself "the prettiest town in
Canada," is in the early stages of "advanced destruction," according to a geographical study.
The study documents the transformation of the town on the shores of Lake Ontario from a quaint
heritage community to an over-exploited locale characterized by "major investment, large numbers of
visitors and partial destruction of the rural idyll."
Niagara-on-the-Lake is in one of the final stages of this process, which in academic literature is called
"creative destruction."
The framework, applied by Dr. Clare Mitchell of the University of Waterloo, charts what happens to a
place that attracts visitors and investment because of its heritage and quaintness and then, over time,
jeopardizes those very qualities because of over-development. It can also be applied to other scenic
tourist towns across Canada, such as Salt Spring Island in British Columbia, St. Jacobs in Ontario and
Peggy's Cove in Nova Scotia.
"This can happen to any location that has some sort of amenity; it can be physical or part of the built
environment or even a cultural amenity, as in St. Jacobs' association with Mennonites," says Dr.
Mitchell, who authored the study published in Canadian Geographer.
The unflat tering characterization of Niagara-on-the-Lake will not appeal to proponents of tourism in
the town, but will find favour with those townsfolk who have lobbied against subdivisions, strip malls
and, most recently, McDonald's, in their efforts to preserve the community's old-style charms.
"Our analysis has shown that over the course of a 50-year period, the Old Town of
Niagara-on-the-Lake has evolved into an internationally acclaimed heritage community," says the
study. "As this landscape has been created, however, it has resulted in partial destruction of the old."
Niagara-on-the-Lake is a community primed for this phenomenon, the study says, because it is
accessible to a large population of day-trippers (because of its proximity to Toronto and Buffalo, N.Y.),
it is "replete with amenity" as a scenic locale, and it has a solid sense of history, as the first capital of
Upper Canada.
Dr. Mitchell analyzed data on visitor numbers and residents' attitudes since 1950 to plot the timeline
for the movement through the five stages of creative destruction.
The first stage, "early commodification," took place gradually over the 20-year period in which money
went into building venues for "the production or sale of heritage," in this case, the Shaw Festival
theatre, Fort George historical attraction and the Niagara Historical Museum.
According to the study, "advanced commodification" occurred a decade after that, and the signs of
"early destruction" became evident from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s.
The current phase of "advanced destruction" is marked by "continual investment, particularly in
infrastructure to support visitor demands," says the study. "A centre reaches the end of this phase
when residents perceive a complete destruction of the rural idyll."
Dr. Mitchell pinpoints this stage to the arrival of a pro-development council and a wealthy
entrepreneur, Si Wai Lai, who pumped more than $75-million into the local economy between 1994
and 1997 by purchasing four landmark hotels and building "a faux-colonial mini plaza" in the town's
centre.
"What the future holds is uncertain," the study concludes. "If the primary investor pursues her
ambitious plans for development, aided by an agreeable town council, then the community will
complete the cycle of creative destruction. Visitor numbers will continue to escalate as investments
mount.
"As residents perceive a complete destruction of the rural idyll, they may choose to leave the
community ... Those who remain will become resigned to the situation and adjust to life in the final
stages of creative destruction."
© Copyright2002 National Post
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