Elliot Lake is very close to seeing a light manufacturing business open at the former No Frills in the Lower Plaza. No one opposed a re-zoning of the site during a public hearing and if no one objects to the Ontario Municipal Board, the re-zoning becomes official. Mayor Dan Marchisella says for now it’s a waiting game to see if anyone objects to the OMB. Marchisella says the nature of the project should bode well for the former grocery store and downtown because the building will get a new look.
The proponent is John Berthelot, who was raised in Elliot Lake and born in Blind River. Berthelot wants to use the former grocery store to cut and polish marble décor pieces and also make pre-engineered building panels. At full capacity, the small plant could employ 90 to 100 people. Marchisella says shoppers don’t have to worry about losing parking spaces in the Lower Plaza because it’s his understanding the project involves shift work plus there’s parking in the back of the old grocery outlet.