Province conducts archaeological dig at old court house

Workers dug upup the parking lot of the old Thunder Bay Superior Court house on Camelot Street this week.

But it's not a typical maintenance job, according toIan McConachie, a communications advisor for Infrastructure Ontario.

"We're doing an archaeological dig and that's part of our archaeological assessment that's looking for evidence of past or historic uses on the property."

Infrastructure Ontario carries out archaeological digs on public property if there's evidence of past historic uses, McConachie said. However, it'snot aware of any specific historical use in the case of the court house parking lot.

"This is part of our standard due diligence that supports government decisions on future land use planning or future use of the property," he said.

The current projectis just a preliminary investigation, he added. If workers find anything of archaeological significance, further work will be planned.

Infrastructure Ontario took over management of the oldcourt house property after the new court house opened.

So far, no decision has been made on the building's future.