GORDON—While other airports in Ontario have either closed or are close to being shut down, the Gore Bay-Manitoulin Airport is not only operating, it’s thriving.
“We are the little airport that could—and did,” stated Robert Colwell, airport manager, at the grand opening of the new air terminal building this past Saturday.
Chris Wood, president of Airport Management Council of Ontario (AMCO) said, “the reason I am here at the airport today is to reflect how important this airport is. This airport is an exception these days. We are losing airports in the province and as AMCO we tell leaders in our communities that this is unacceptable.
“I would like to congratulate Robbie Colwell and his team, the municipal and community leaders for their efforts in not only maintaining the operations of the airport but to see it thriving,” said Mr. Wood. He explained currently, “there are 10 airports in Ontario that are currently $100,000-$150,000 away from shutting down.”
“Thank you for having us here today and congratulations to all of you on this beautiful new facility. You should all be proud; Robbie, for the vision, and the great community support. This is a real gem,” stated Mr. Wood.
“I would like to welcome everyone here today. What a beautiful day this is,” stated Carrie Lewis, CAO/clerk-treasurer for Gordon/Barrie Island, who was master of ceremonies for the celebration.
Everyone on hand for the ceremony sang ‘O Canada’ with Nicki Hinds on the piano.
Lee Hayden, reeve of Gordon/Barrie Island and president of the Gore Bay Airport Commission said, “A sincere welcome to each of you in attendance here today. The grand opening of our new terminal building is truly a special occasion.”
“It was about 10 years ago when the airport commission first recognized the urgent need for a new terminal building. For clarity, the current Gore Bay Airport Commission is compromised of the three owner municipalities, myself representing Gordon/Barrie Island, Ron Lane for the town of Gore Bay and Roger Morrell for the municipality of Burpee/Mills, along with Cliff Barnes, representing our corporate member, Manitoulin Transport, and our member at large, Tim St. Amand from the municipality of Central Manitoulin. Former (Gore Bay) Mayor Dan Osborne and (Burpee/Mills) Reeve Ken Noland were commission members during most of this project.”
Reeve Hayden explained, “we began the initial discussion on a building design and mainly, the daunting construct cost projections. The commission was stymied as to where the funds would come from. To be completely honest, I never dreamt I would be standing here today, in this amazing, magnificent terminal building. It is an absolute jewel that welcomes all aviators to Manitoulin Island.”
He explained, “the journey of this new building began in 2019 when the commission was informed of an unprecedented funding announcement through the provincial ICIP agency, that included airports and potential recipients. However, there was a very short window to apply, and without the incredible effort of a number people, it would not have been successful. The municipal owners of the airport, Gordon/Barrie Island, Gore Bay, and Burpee/Mills called a special meeting to be informed, and each municipality had to decide to commit to their share of the project costs. An engineer design was fast tracked by Whittington Engineering to be submitted with the application.”
“There were literally 11th hour phone calls and required documents emailed for submission by the deadline,” said Reeve Hayden. “But the person mostly responsible for orchestrating the successful application process, that resulted in nearly $4 million dollars in funding, was the executive director of LAMBAC, Carolyn Campbell, with assistance from Kristin Luoma from NOHFC.”
The Town of Gore Bay offered to be the lead municipality on the application, and from that point on, all aspects of the project administration was handled professionally by then CAO Stasia Carr and Treasurer Michael Lalonde, said Reeve Hayden. “This was a significant commitment of time and resources placed on an already busy municipal office. On behalf of the airport committee, Gore Bay, Gordon/Barrie Island and the municipality of Burpee and Mills, I want to recognize and thank Stasia, Michael and the Town of Gore Bay for that much appreciated contribution.”
Reeve Hayden noted, “there were several major curveballs and delays thrown at this project along the way, including COVID, and then the subsequent unprecedented inflationary costs. But the commission and municipal owners rallied with unfaltering support to see this building to completion.”
“I am proud to have worked alongside all the contributing partners, people and agencies in the construction of this building,” said Reeve Hayden.
Ms. Lewis called the grand opening “truly historic” and called forward all members of the airport commission.
Mayor Lane told the large gathering of about 200 people, “I would like to thank everyone for coming today. It is a special day for the airport and all of Western Manitoulin.” He explained “there was no airport at the location before World War II and the airport was built by the federal government in 1947 to be an emergency airfield for civilian and military aircraft. It was turned over a number of years ago to the three Western Manitoulin municipalities and operated by the Gore Bay Manitoulin Airport Commission. It has a 24-hour-a-day weather station with information which can be viewed on your phone. The airport is directly under the east west North America flight path and is on Flightradar, along with all the other significant airports in the world.”
“The local airport is one of the few certified small airports left in Northern Ontario, and it handles all types and sizes of aircraft from Canada and the US, as well as being a major boost to Manitoulin tourism,” continued Mayor Lane.
“I have a personal connection to the airport,” said Mayor Lane, explaining his parents’ farm on Barrie Island was directly under the airport flight path. “My mother was an official civilian aircraft observer after World War II.”
As well Mayor Lane’s uncle, Larry Lane, “worked most of his adult career at the airport following his discharge from the army after WW2. He was also the longest serving mayor of Gore Bay and always a big proponent of the airport.”
Mayor Lane was on the airport commission as Gore Bay representative in his last term as mayor and currently is the vice-chair of the commission and attended almost all the construction meetings from 2023-2024 for this project.
Mayor Lane thanked several people for their efforts in the project, including the architect of the building, Chris Perry of Perry and Perry from Sudbury, the engineers-EXP Mark Langille, the general contractors-Jeff Bint with Lignam Contractors plus his staff and many subtrades and contractors.
“Airport manager Robbie Colwell was deeply involved in the planning, design and the construction phase and he knows more about airplanes and running an airport than most people could ever know, and he is probably the best promoter of the airport and Manitoulin Island that you could ask for with his connections internationally in the aviation field,” said Mayor Lane.
Mr. Colwell, who is entering his 30th year as airport manager stated, “I would like to welcome everyone here today. It is a great day for the airport, the Island and the country.”
“As an airport we service a vast region,” said Mr. Colwell, noting the airport is very popular and well known. “We are fortunate to have this modern, beautiful facility.”
Mr. Colwell explained that in 1996 the airport was divested from Canada. “The only constant at the airport has been myself, with several mayors, reeves, changing over the years. I can recall the negotiations with Transport Canada who wanted out of the airport business, even though at one point this airport was a source of pride for them.”
The local municipalities took over ownership of the airport, which was a totally new thing, Mr. Colwell explained. “Thankfully, the community and the municipalities had the wisdom to see the value and importance of the airport, and we had aviation personality and pilot Bryan Barfoot head the negotiating team. From the beginning the commission was formed, the feeling of the community and people was that we needed to keep the airport going and saw the value and importance of the airport.”
The early years of the commission taking over were challenging, with little money being provided by Transport Canada. “Action needed to be taken, and the commission worked hard to save the airport. They expanded their funding sources, reached out and found corporate citizen support, as well as help from other municipalities and donations as well.”
“We could see the light, we had hope,” explained Mr. Colwell. With the progression was the development of airplane hangars at the airport, supported by the federal government in 2005. Further upgrades were made at the airport in 2010 with an extension of its runways, and work on its secondary runway. “Then the big upgrades at the airport that we are here to celebrate today. This included the new terminal building which is the true champion of this project, the helipad, and the extensive electrical upgrades that have been made.”
“Projects like this don’t happen on their own, it takes a lot of support and work from of a lot of people,” said Mr. Colwell. “And we would not have got this far without tough decisions being made and efforts to keep going. This airport is the exception because we are building up while other airports are being torn down. We are not here to fail.”
“It begins with a lady named Carolyn Campbell who I consider the unsung hero of this whole thing. We would not be here without this lady. It was Carolyn and her LAMBAC team that moved this forward, having found and completed the application for the funding. She used the resources of others and was totally committed on making sure the funding application had the highest potential of being successful. And with great skill, determination and commitment this paid off. Nothing happens without money-funding,” he said, noting moving forward the project committee was formed with Mr. Hayden, Reeve Noland and Mayor Lane.
“This has been an amazing project to be part of, and is more amazing after it has been completed,” said Mr. Colwell. He said the new building is long overdue. “Everyone loves the airport and knows about it, and the love affair has just begun. Fortunately, our future is ours.”
Mr. Colwell thanked the three municipal partners (Gordon/Barrie Island, Gore Bay, Burpee and Mills) for their support in the project as well as supporting municipalities Billings and Central Manitoulin, Manitoulin Transport, which both uses the airport year round, and supports the facility, Lafarge and US family supporters and the support of so many volunteers including the Gore Bay Flying Club, and Carrie Lewis, for being a huge help in the process.
Mr. Colwell noted the airport terminal building now has a baby grand piano inside the building, thanks to the late pilot Lloyd Richards and his family. “Over the years Lloyd and I developed a very good friendship,” he said. “Unfortunately, four years ago we lost him. He was one of the most passionate, powerful aviation personalities I have known. Lloyd and I kept in fairly constant contact; he was crazy about this airport and had said he wanted to support the airport in some way and that having a piano here would be a nice touch. He said he was going to put a piano here. He didn’t get to see it here, or hear it, but his presence will resonate with this piano in the terminal.”
Mr. Richards’ wife Nancy provided greetings at the opening, explaining one of the main reasons her husband was so inspired by airports is that he had grown up in a small village, South Porcupine Lake, and as a little boy would see fire bombers on the lake, as it was the base location for them. He became a pilot, and later would ship food and other supplies to remote northern communities. “Lloyd loved airports, particularly this one,” she said.
MPP Bill Rosenberg told the large gathering, “I want to congratulate everyone here today, from mayors, committee members, users of the airport, everyone who has been a participant in this project. This project is a great accomplishment, with all the communities having worked together to produce this. And the proof is in the pudding with this great new facility.”
A ribbon cutting ceremony took place followed by music provided by Doug Smith on clarinet, Oliver Runnalls on saxophone and Nicki Hinds on grand piano, which was donated to the terminal.
