Swift River, the company operating the Bala Generating Station, is set to finish construction on the Bala North Dam just one day before the Cranberry Festival, according to a construction notice from their parent company.
The construction plans include some sill repairs but focus on replacing the stoplogs at two bays with new gates. A letter went out to residents in late July detailing the construction plans, the regulatory process and a general timeline. It said construction was expected to last two months, but their most recent notice says they plan to complete the work in about 18 days. With the Cranberry Festival holding its 40th-anniversary celebration from Oct. 18 to 20, some residents are concerned about the potential impact on the event. The company says construction will be over; if not, they plan to mitigate any impact on the festival.
“Construction will begin on September 30th and is anticipated to end October 17th,” said a construction notice from Potentia Renewables, Swift River’s parent company. “Should construction take longer, it will not interfere with the Bala Cranberry Festival (work will pause during the Festival weekend and the crane will be removed).”
The new gates are moveable barriers called sluice gates. The installation of the gates will allow operators at the dam to reestablish flow faster in the event of an unplanned shutdown, such as a grid outage. With stoplogs, reestablishing flow can take between one and four hours, according to Swift River, sometimes more with cold conditions.
The gates will fully open in just seven minutes, and since they’re heated, frost and cold weather won’t have as great an impact on the dam operations. A logging team would still be required if additional flow is needed from the other bays, but the change will lessen the impact of power trips.
Construction equipment will be in the parking areas near the dam (see photo), and the work is expected to impact traffic in the area.
“Some traffic disruption is expected (no more than two hours per day) but one lane of Muskoka Road 169 will always be open and traffic control staff will be present,” said the notice.
Dave Skoric, chair of the Cranberry Festival’s board of directors, said his team got in contact with Potentia Renewables after the letter went out to Bala community members.
“They told us that they know from their history with Bala that the Cranberry Festival [is] a very important part of what we do in the fall and that they will be planning to wrap up that construction by Thanksgiving,” Skoric said in an interview on Sept. 19, one day before the updated notice came out.
“In the event that it runs long, they would even go so far as to have removed the crane and what have you from the site for the weekend of the Cranberry Festival because they want to, of course, support our local economy.”
Skoric said he hasn’t received any further updates from the company, but their staff assured his team that they intend to make sure there is minimal to no impact on the actual weekend of the Cranberry Festival.
“They’ve said that they’re going to do all these things to help us, which is phenomenal, and we just have to wait and see when the rubber hits the road that is what’s going to happen,” he said. “They have come on board as a paid sponsor of the Cranberry Festival this year.”
Apart from the construction, preparations for the festival are well underway. Skoric said the team is excited to host everyone again this year. Vendors and artists are booked and ready to go, and organizers are gearing up for the celebrations.
Because it’s his first year as chair, it’s been crazy for him to see how many different people and businesses come together to make the event happen. After missing a festival due to the pandemic, it means that much more to celebrate the 39 festivals and the 40 years of community. It’s a longstanding not-for-profit event that directly supports Bala and the people in it.
“We wouldn’t be able to do it without all of the volunteers and sponsors who work year-round to make it happen, but we also wouldn’t be able to do it without all of our festival attendees,” he said. “These are the people who come every year and who support our community by showing up, by buying their tickets and partaking in everything Bala has to offer.”
Skoric and his fellow organizers encourage attendees to buy their tickets online in advance as the event approaches. Though tickets will still be available at the gate, it helps them know how many people to expect while also offering people the chance to skip the line and save $2 on adult passes.
“We encourage everybody to come, young [and] old,” Skoric said. “Whether you’ve been to Bala before, it’s your home, or you’ve never been, it is a great opportunity to come celebrate the harvest and support our little town.”
To buy tickets to the Cranberry Festival, click here. For more information on the Bala North Dam, visit the Potentia Renewables website.