Good, Bad and the Upsetting…

Wawa seems to be changing, and in the most part in a wonderful way. There is outdoor dining on Broadway now with North of 17. A beautiful mural adorns the Thrift Barn making this bright. The Big Bird Inn – who would have believed it could look so good! They were right, the bones were good – she just needed a new outfit. Now the apartment building needs a facelift too. The End of the Line Diner has taken over the long-closed Mr. Mugs. The roof at the old Polish Hall is being redone… nice to see that the economy in Wawa is picking up.

The environment in Wawa is also looking good. The waterfront project is completed and the swales are lined and vegetation planted. A beach-side volleyball net has been installed at Dr. Rose’s Beach. and pickleball players can play at the tennis courts with a net net there.

The corner tree installations that were put in by the Historical Society (I believe, years ago) were carefully removed by municipal staff and installed as a wonderful windbreak along Centennial Park! The wet and cooler weather will certainly help them to reestablish and flourish in their new home.

The Broadway Avenue flower boxes are being redesigned. One has been changed, and if that works – the rest will follow suit.

 

Amidst all the good news – there is bad. There has been two incidents of vandalism. Well, it may be better termed destruction in one case.

 

Wednesday night, person(s) have destroyed the washroom facilities at Lion’s Beach. They have had to be closed in order for cleaning and repairs to be made.

 

Tuesday night, spraypainting was done on the playset at Queen’s Park. The nasty messaging that was left meant that municipal staff (your tax dollars at work) were diverted from some of the positive, beautiful work they have been doing – and spent hours removing it. They were joined by two officers, PC’s Corston and Martin.

 

Obviously, something needs to be done to keep Wawa looking beautiful. The OPP cannot be everywhere, but there must be someone who knows what happened at Lion’s Beach and Queen’s Park. This must be so disheartening for municipal staff, council, business people, who spend hours surveying, creating, and implementing plans to make Wawa a better place to live and play in. When these acts occur – I’m sure it makes it difficult to consider continuing their efforts. Difficult in that ‘why would we bother – it just gets wrecked’, and then the extra costs. It takes money to fix this stuff to make it safe and useable again. Local ratepayers, take note. You complain about the cost of municipal services and rising taxes annually – here is one cost that you can visibly see.

 

If you know the person(s) involved in these crimes – do contact the local OPP or Crimestoppers at (705-942-7867 or 1-800-222-8477) and anonymous online reporting system (www.p3tips.com).