Goh Iromoto / Courtesy Tourism Thunder Bay
No Hibernating in Thunder Bay
Skating at Thunder Bay’s waterfront reflecting pool.
Thunder Bay looks good in white. Lake Superior’s most populous city averages a comfortable 2 metres of snow, nicely blanketing its six “official” months of winter, a season that loves this city. Most winter (and summer) days are sunny, about 270 per year, making this the sunniest city in eastern Canada.
No wonder Thunder Bay loves winter right back. Far from hibernating, residents embrace this season of theatre and arts, of evenings out to sample tasty locavore fare and of days indulging in boutique shopping or outdoor recreation. (Thunder Bay, after all, has raised 94 National Hockey League players, the most per capita of any Canadian city.)
“If you don’t find opportunities or places to go, you’re not trying,” says city native David Nicholson, whose snow sculpting was featured on the local CBC radio.
With so much love arriving with the snowflakes, winter is a perfect time to visit. We sample the city, inside out, for thought-warming ideas.
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Matthew Goertz
No Hibernating in Thunder Bay
The Cambrian Players performing “The War Show.”
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Courtesy Gargoyles Grille
No Hibernating in Thunder Bay
Gargoyles Grille and Ale pairs fine food and Wine Spectator-worthy wine.
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Courtesy Magnus Theatre
No Hibernating in Thunder Bay
Magnus Theatre in the old Central School.
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Courtesy Thunder Bay Art Gallery
No Hibernating in Thunder Bay
The exhibit Form and Flow: Sculpture from the Collection at Thunder Bay Art Gallery.
Inside Arts
In Thunder Bay, the arts make a good start for a visit. The area generates a wealth of performance arts, says Richard Pepper, president of the Cambrian Players, a community theatre that’s been around for about 65 years.
Richard ticks off a plethora of places to see plays: Magnus Theatre, the pros; Rogue Productions at Fort William Historical Park annually performs “A Christmas Carol” in its historic great hall; Paramount Live, the local youth theatre; Applauze Productions, which teaches vocal and stage skills; Rob MacLeod’s Capitol Players, a dinner theatre with mysteries and melodramas; the burlesque productions of “Frankly Scarlet”; and the Mile Hill Melodrama community group in nearby South Gillies.
The all-volunteer Cambrian Players, the city’s oldest troupe, does improvisation and scripted productions. It has open-door Sunday improv gatherings at the Finlandia Club above the popular Hoito Restaurant. The evening mimics “Whose Line Is It Anyway,” with the audience calling out ideas and joining on stage. Once, an audience member, asked to recite the “Snow White” story, took over a skit. “He went on and on, and we just started acting while he was narrating,” laughs Richard. True improvisation.
The season for the professional company Magnus Theatre runs September to April. Justin Parcher, marketing coordinator, sees a surge in interest for theatre, art galleries and live music. “Everything has just really grown in the last couple of decades. Magnus moved into the old Central School … a ton more art galleries have opened, along with places like Black Pirates Pub that constantly have live local music. There are hard-core metal rockers … and then we have these amazing folk artists that are completely unplugged.
“I might be biased a bit, but when I was growing up, there just didn’t seem to be a lot of that. I’m quite proud of our arts community here in Thunder Bay.”
The city has heavily invested in the home area of Magnus, the waterfront entertainment district, to attract restaurants, hotels and family outdoor activities. It features walkways with random acts of artwork. “Downtown Port Arthur by the marina has really blossomed,” Justin says. “This area has been very kind to the arts.”
The city also has grown great places to congregate before or after performances, like The Foundry Pub, the Sovereign Room, Beaux Daddy’s Canajun Grillhouse, Gargoyles Grille & Ale, Tomlin, Red Lion and Bight Restaurant. Many regularly have live music.
“Thunder Bay’s culinary scene is heads and tails above a lot of other regions in the province,” says Matt Pearson, general manager and co-owner of Sleeping Giant Brewing Company. “I’m a restaurant guy. I love going out and seeing the dining scene.”
Eating options are many, from international ethnic – Italian, Asian, Mediterranean, Cajun – to very locavore. Beverage connoisseurs find satisfaction, too. Sleeping Giant Brewing Company brings out its winter favorite – Coffee Vanilla Porter – for December and January. Wine lovers can sip fine vintages at Caribou Restaurant & Wine Bar, annual winner of a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence since 2002.
The made-over waterfront has become the place to bring out-of-town guests, Matt says. “There’s outdoor skating, there’s a fire pit in the middle … if you want to show your town off, it’s a good place to start.”
The waterfront district comes alive with events, walkers, bikers, inline skaters and skateboarders in summer, Justin says, but winter snows don’t stop the flow. “In Thunder Bay, I believe, we cherish our summers and we try to take advantage of that … but we don’t hibernate like bears. Even in winter, there is a lot to do.”
Every Sunday in winter, says Paul Burke, the city’s special events developer, the waterfront hosts Winter Fundays with free family activities.
Winter is peak time to see a concert by the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra. In its 55th year this season, TBSO maintains 30 full-time musicians and sponsors the Thunder Bay Symphony Chorus and the Thunder Bay Symphony Youth Orchestra. TBSO started when Toronto musicians Rene Charrier and Douglas Dahlgren stopped in Port Arthur for car repairs on a road trip west. The duo wandered into Saul Lanskin’s Furniture Store, played the display piano and chatted with Saul (later Thunder Bay’s first mayor). Inspired by his dream of a city orchestra, they set up shop above Hansen’s Pool Hall and in November 1960 offered the Lakehead Symphony Orchestra’s first concert.
Sleeping Giant Brewing partners with the TBSO to do the popular Brew & Beethoven fundraiser each March that sells out two weeks or more in advance. It spawned the Mozart & Martinis in November. “People come out and support these things,” says Matt.
Food, wine and song are great ways to spend winter evenings, but Thunder Bay has plenty to do in daylight. Its museums and art galleries fit just about any interest.
Thunder Bay Museum has three floors of regional history – and artifacts – covering 10,000 years. Its renovated building offers a re-creation of a 19th-century Canadian Pacific Railway station, a 1920s vintage theatre (with movie shorts from that era) and rooms that cover medical, military, Aboriginal and art history.
For specific interests, there’s the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame & Museum, Northwestern Ontario Aviation Heritage Centre, Paipoonge Museum (with a focus on settlers) and the Thunder Bay Military Museum.
Justin from Magnus calls Definitely Superior Art Gallery “key in the arts scene in Thunder Bay.” The gallery, run by artists, mounts up to 45 exhibits, events or workshops each year. Its annual weeklong “Random Acts of Poetry” takes to the streets in late fall. The late March 2015 Urban Infill brought 350 artists to 18 locations to display art, perform or play music. A visit to the waterfront gallery offers feet-stopping, eye-popping contemporary works.
Ahnisnabae Art Gallery showcases Aboriginal artists and was started in the studio of the late Roy Thomas by his widow, Louise. She has become a godmother to many young artists, especially those inspired by the distinctive, brilliantly colorful Woodland style that Roy helped to pioneer.
The 40-year-old Thunder Bay Art Gallery focuses on contemporary Aboriginal artists across Canada and on Northwestern Ontario artists, but brings in exhibits. This winter it’s showing the art of popular “For Better or For Worse” cartoonist Lynn Johnston. The gallery offers classes for all ages and its shop sells great Canadian-made gifts.
Specialty shops abound here, but some visitors find the city hard to navigate to a “downtown.” That’s because there are really two downtowns (north and south) thanks to the 1970 merging of Port Arthur and Fort William. Don’t be discouraged; it’s worth seeking out the city’s five shopping districts: Downtown Thunder Bay South/Victoriaville and Intercity feature shops, malls and plazas; Balmoral/Central Avenue, Simpson Street and Westfort Village blend shops and offices; the northside’s Waterfront District and Bay/Algoma neighbourhoods feature artistic shops and Finnish heritage finds. The year-round Thunder Bay Country Market each Saturday features locally made or grown items.
If winter white becomes overwhelming, Thunder Bay offers a tropical oasis. Open every day, the Centennial Botanical Conservatory’s best loved section is a tropical house, a humid (blissfully warm) arboretum with colorful trees and plants. Adjacent greenhouses grow flowers for summer.
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Susan Dykstra
No Hibernating in Thunder Bay
Contemplating the Sleeping Giant and pancake ice across from Thunder Bay.
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Courtesy City of Thunder Bay
No Hibernating in Thunder Bay
The Sleeping Giant Loppet.
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Jean Paul
No Hibernating in Thunder Bay
The Terry Fox Memorial and lookout north of the city draped in winter.
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Courtesy Fort William Historical Park
No Hibernating in Thunder Bay
A bird’s-eye view of the 1,696-square-metre snow maze at Fort William Historical Park that earned a Guinness World’s Record in 2015.
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Peter D. Wragg
No Hibernating in Thunder Bay
Snow sculptures at Marina Park.
Outside Action
When it comes to winter outdoor recreation, the sprawling Thunder Bay offers everything.
Want to downhill ski or snowboard? Loch Lomond Ski Area southwest of the city has 17 slopes, beginning green to expert double-black diamonds, down a 1,400-foot-high mountain. It has tubing, terrain parks and fat-tire bike and snowshoe trails. At the city’s northeastern edge, Mount Baldy offers 10 runs, beginner to expert, a terrain park with rails and jumps, and a snow school for ages 3 and up.
Maybe cross-country skiing, snowshoeing or fat tire biking is more your thing. The city’s four main trails – Centennial Park, Boulevard Lake, Chapples Park and Parkway (Neebing River) – have year-round options and Tapiola Trails open to classical or skate skiing in winter.
“We’re actually quite lucky, we’ve got a lot of park land, and we’ve got a lot of ski trails that have been developed years ago. … Thunder Bay has amazing trails,” says snowloving resident David Nicholson.
David Nicholson
No Hibernating in Thunder Bay
David Nicholson and his mighty minion snow sculpture.
The 10K of groomed trails at Centennial Park grew out of Olympic cross-country trials held in Thunder Bay in the mid-1970s. The 147-acre park along the Current River also has sleigh rides, toboggan slides and farm animals at a 1910 Logging Camp and Museum. Not far from town, find groomed trails at Lappe Nordic Ski Centre, Kamview Nordic Ski Centre and the provincial parks of Sleeping Giant or Kakabeka Falls with its gorgeous frozen-over falls.
For those who like a challenge, try ice climbing, guided through the new Outdoor Skills and Thrills Inc.
Many residents and visitors relish mingling at the rinks. The city operates five indoor rinks and lists at least 36 outdoor rinks for public skating, figure skating, speedskating or hockey. The rink that ranks high for charm is one of the newest – the reflecting pond on the waterfront.
David found his winter niche in snow sculpting. A genealogical researcher/historian, he squeezes several days of sculpting into each winter. He’s built a supersized pair of snow feet, a 6-foot-tall minion and an igloo in which he spent a night last winter when neighbors asked if he would.
To sample snow sculpting (or just to admire it), head to the city’s SnowDay at Marina Park in mid-February.
“There’s a lot of people who hunker down and stay inside at winter,” says David, “but generally those who are active in summertime are active in wintertime, too. It’s breathing that cool, crisp air. You’re breathing fresh oxygen, pure air. … In the wintertime, that cold air in the lungs just feels so invigorating.”
It’s an invigorating feeling that Thunder Bay loves.