The City of Kingston, Ont., is gearing up for the start of its unofficial tourism season this month, with local businesses and attractions awaiting an influx of tourists making their way down to the Limestone City.
The region had a preview on the kind of season it has ahead of it when the city hosted travellers eager to catch a glimpse of the solar eclipse. But there is cautious optimism in the air with one of the city’s bridge crossings closed for repairs.
In a statement to Global News last month, Public Services and Procurement Canada said crews are working to get the bridge back up and running.
William Henderson is the owner of a stall that he sets up outside city hall for a few days of the week. He said that while the Causeway being closed may affect traffic coming in certain parts of the city, he isn’t too worried about tourists finding their way to his stall.
A variety of baked goods line up his stall, which he’s brought up to the Kingston Public Market for a little over 30-years.
“(For) the baked goods, we buy the grains and whatnot wholesale. But we do all the baking and mixing of the gluten free flour,” he said.
The market opens every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday throughout the year. Beside his stall is another one owned and operated by Chris Ackerman — and flowers and a number of items, like maple syrup, are up for sale.
“We sell cut flowers year-round. But greenhouse stuff (we sell) till the end of June, starting with asparagus… then rhubarb, then strawberries,” Ackerman said.
The stalls are a set of alternate things for tourists to check out, as much as they are for the locals in the city. Several businesses downtown also offer visitors tourist-related merchandise, from t-shirts to fridge magnets and locally-made ornaments.
At the Brock’s General Commissary, general manager Chris Shelley said he’s bringing out items from a number of suppliers after the success he had with the eclipse.
“The ornaments that we had for the eclipse, that supplier also makes great local ornaments,” he said. “We’ve got local specialty foods; we’ve got local cheese (and) and lots of other souvenirs that are made by local folks.”
Aside from the shopping are a number of other attractions geared to the newcomer. Trolley tours and cruises are picking up this summer. A newer attraction also hopes to pick up steam, almost a year after it was first announced.
The S.S. Keewatin, sitting on the water beside the Great Lakes Museum, is undergoing renovations and remodeling as it hopes to open to the public this month. It’s described as the last of its kind of steamships, from the Titanic era.
The museum acquired it last year with work hoping to bring it up to a level that can be appreciated by the public.
The museum’s board chair Chris West said working on the historical vessel has been an exciting journey.
“This amazing artifact, it is a museum artifact. But it is on a massive scale. But it’s not unlike bringing a heritage boat together, on a grander scale. Or bringing our museums back to life,” he said.
Those looking for an extensive list on all of the city’s offerings can check out Tourism Kingston’s website, with a list of everything that Kingston has to offer for the excited traveller.
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