Long overshadowed by fortress, Louisbourg the community seeks tourists as well

As it heads towards Canada's150thbirthday, downtownLouisbourgis working to stepout from under the shadow of the internationally known fortress just down the road by creating new attractions and opportunities for its commercial district.

A recent brainstorming event calledSea ++ Louisbourgled to a number of ideas for the Cape Breton community, such as a chowder cook-off competition, a meeting place known as an "idea hatchery," and a heritage boat-building project.

The initiative was organized byLouisbourgSeafoods Ltd. and the George D. Lewis Gateways to Opportunities Society, and has awarded prizes for some of the ideas.

The boat-building project, for instance,will display the special skills ofDarcyHarte, an animator at the Fortress ofLouisbourgwho has been building18thcentury wooden vessels since he was a teenager.

Harte, 28, has been crafting a five-metre row boat for the last four years at the fortress, but it will be moved to downtown for the final few weeks of construction.

Chowder-off

Another delicious idea is TheGreatLouisbourgChowder-Off, the brainchild of local resident Margo Patrick. She received a $1,500 prize for her idea.

Details still have to be worked out, but the cook-off could run for a weekend or could be a two-month-long series, according to Jenna Lahey, Louisbourg Seafood's manager of marketing.

A second award of $500, in the youth category, went to Marcus Gartland for The Anchor.Outlined in a written proposal, his concept is to open a space, such as a renovated building, where people could come together to share a wide range of entrepreneurial and recreational ideas, perhaps in partnership with Louisbourg Seafoods, Parks Canada and other organizations.

Laheysaid she has high hopes for these downtown projects.

"We get close to 100,000 visitors a year in [Fortress of]Louisbourgbut in the town we don't tend to capture those people," she said.

"So the more things we can create for them to do, the more likely they will stay in town and see what we have to offer."

'Come and make some shavings'

Meanwhile, Harte and acrew of three plan to launch their boat androw it from the downtown waterfront to the fortress on July 1 to celebrate Canada Day.

It's the type of boat that 300 years ago was designed to take a passenger, typicallythe captain or an officer, from ship to shore and back.

The boat will be moved from the fortress to the boardwalk site on June 15, Hartesaid, noting that a few more planks need to be installed and it has to be caulked before it can be christened.

He encourages people dropping by to grab one of his tools and take part. "You're more than welcome to come and make some shavings," he said.

The last thing he willdo is make the oars, manually, as they did in the 18th century. Remaining true to nautical traditions, Harte would not divulge the name of the craft.

"Can't speak her name until she's finished being built," he said.