Here are your latest Brockville and area headlines:
- City tourism services are coming back under the purview of the City of Brockville. City council voted Tuesday night to create a tourism department. It’s been at least two decades since tourism was in-house. The contract with the Brockville Aquatarium will expire at the end of the year. Since 2002, the Brockville and District Chamber of Commerce ran tourism services followed by the Aquatarium in 2021.
- A couple of sections of Brockville’s street network are closed for sewer work. Hartley Street, immediate east of St. Lawrence Park, will be only open to local traffic today with a possible closure on Friday. Brock Street from Buell Street to William Street is down to one lane of traffic until Friday afternoon and “may eventually be closed” if needed for the sewer replacement and paving.
- A splash of colour through public art will come to downtown Brockville this summer. STEPS (Sustainable Thinking and Expression on Public Space) Public Art and the Downtown Brockville Business Improvement Area are looking for emerging artists to submit creations that will be turned into street banners and ground decals. The artwork should start showing up by mid-May until early June.
- The Ontario Provincial Police in Smiths Falls is trying to hire more officers. It will hold a two hour event, starting at noon on May 16, at the headquarters on Queen Street in order to find new recruits. It coincides with Police Week. The Ontario government announced this week it’s removing tuition fees for basic constable training at the Ontario Police College and is adding the number of recruits per cohort from 480 to 550.
- Residents of Brockville will see a really big bicycle rolling through the city about a month from now. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Leeds and Grenville is hold a fundraiser using a 29-seater bicycle. The organization is already looking for individuals and organizations to ride the MEGABike on May 31.