Port Windsor is proud to announce the September 2019 opening of Prosperity Place, a new community gathering space located in the Sandwich community of Windsor Ontario. Port Windsor partnered with the Sandwich Teen Action Group (“STAG”) which organization received a $108,000 grant from Ontario’s Trillium Foundation to create an outdoor gathering place that will engage residents and connect them to their neighbours.
“Port Windsor has partnered with STAG on several other successful community projects and events,” says Steve Salmons, President and CEO of Windsor Port Authority. “We are proud to develop this property into such a worthwhile community-based gathering space. Building inclusive and engaged communities is important to all those who live and work in the Sandwich community, including our port customers. The name Prosperity Place highlights the Port’s focus on ensuring community prosperity by providing a space for residents of the community to meet, to perform and to learn.” Prosperity Place is now part of the educational walking tours from the University of Windsor and the local schools.
“We are truly excited about our new gathering place,” says John Elliott, Executive Director for STAG. “Sandwich is home to diverse cultural groups, and we want to encourage neighbours to get to know one another and to work together to improve community life for all. We were inspired by a report from Roger Stokes International, a community planning group, which noted that ‘the first steps to bringing your community to life is to develop a plaza area or gathering place.’ Our goal is to connect, inspire and educate our diverse demographic groups.”
The concept of Prosperity Place was an initiative that began with Windsor Port Authority’s Board of Directors seeking to strengthen its connection to the Sandwich community. When approached, STAG’s Board of Directors quickly embraced a partnership with the Port aimed at providing a community gathering space. Construction on Prosperity Place started in late 2018 and reached substantial completion in the summer of 2019. Prosperity Place tells the story of the evolution of trade within the port of Windsor and educates visitors of the significant importance of the Port and the facilities that operate within it. The space consists of story boards detailing the evolution of maritime trade in the area as well as historical murals displaying important milestones in the community. There are four concrete canoes that display the indigenous clan symbols indicative of the first trade in the region.
The focal point of Prosperity Place is an anchor that is located near the entrance of the gathering space. The anchor is from MV James Norris, which sailed into the port for decades, with her last voyage departing from the K + S Salt docks in our port. According to Steve Salmons “We were extremely fortunate to be able to obtain this anchor as its story is the perfect reminder of the depth of economic history within our Port. More importantly, it serves as a publicly visible reminder of Port Windsor’s anchored commitment to actively ensure the continued flow of economic and community-based prosperity within the Windsor-Essex region.”