Tale Of Two Waterfronts

You'll be able to walk on water when Burlington finishes a $7-million lakefront pier for which ground is being broken today.

Both Burlington and Hamilton consider waterfront development key to drawing tourists and enhancing their images.

The recently opened, $7.1-million Discovery Landing is the centrepiece of Burlington's plans, while Hamilton spent about $11 million cleaning up the Bayfront Park site, more on developing it and another $9.5 million on the waterfront trail.

Parks Canada invested $10 million in the Marine Discovery Centre and paid $5 million to restore HMCS Haida.

One big difference is that Burlington, a city of 150,000, calls the S-shaped pier the final piece of its waterfront project, while Hamilton, with a population of 500,000, still has big but undefined plans for more attractions, even housing, on the bayfront.

Burlington Mayor Rob MacIsaac says diplomatically: "I think both Hamilton and Burlington have a great opportunity to together create a diverse waterfront experience. I'm really impressed by what's happening in Hamilton. A lot has been accomplished and there's huge potential." Hamilton Councillor Chad Collins, who chairs the Hamilton Waterfront Trust and admires Burlington waterfront events such as Ribfest, says, "Both are going to be successful from a commercial and recreational standpoint." Neither city sees itself competing against the other with waterfront developments, and the Waterfront Trust's Werner Plessl says: "People wouldn't go there if they were identical. There are comparisons to be made, but they're different. People have choices." Burlington's waterfront * Construction is starting on an S-shaped pier that will let Burlingtonians venture out more than 130 metres over the water of Lake Ontario and look south toward Stoney Creek or west toward the Burlington Bay Skyway.

* Spencer Smith Park features a wide, though relatively short, pedestrian promenade lined by a breakwall against which storm waves often break dramatically.

* Discovery Landing's upscale Spencer's on the Waterfront (run by Hamilton restaurateurs) has no parallel on the Hamilton bayshore. The Bite Cafe caters to the masses.

* Discovery Landing has a pool for model sailboats.

* Boaters will be able to tie up for the day at the Brant Street pier.

* Discovery Landing features an observatory with towering windows and a two-metre simulated tornado.

Hamilton's waterfront * Pier 4 Park includes a 60-metre pier from which Hamiltonians can gaze north at the wooded shore of Burlington's Aldershot area or east toward the Burlington Bay Skyway.

* Calmer bay water laps against Hamilton's waterfront trail, but it extends for eight kilometres. Visitors can also enjoy the sights from an antique-style trolley.

* Pier 8 is home to Williams Coffee Pub, a popular-priced eatery with extended hours.

* Hamilton has real sailboats and marinas for power and sailing craft.

* Hamiltonians can embark on harbour tours aboard the small Hamiltonian or cruise and dine on the much-bigger Harbour Queen.

* Hamilton has Parks Canada's Marine Discovery Centre with interpretive displays on the Great Lakes and hands-on exhibits for kids. The historic destroyer HMCS Haida is docked close by.

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