Windows Alive project to transform downtown core

The Fort Frances Downtown Business Improvement Association is teaming up with the Chamber of Commerce to revitalize the downtown core.

Local artists have been commissioned to paint murals on shop windows down Scott Street as part of the Windows Alive project.

Windows Alive is the “brainchild” of Fort Frances event and marketing manager Rhonda Howells, said Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Heather Johnson.

“As in many small towns, when you go downtown now there are so many empty storefronts. We’re missing our retail space,” Johnson said. “We thought well, you know what, we’ll go down and figure out who owns the empty buildings and we’ll talk to them and try to get some paint on the windows to liven up the downtown area.”

While the initial idea was to paint over the windows of closed shops, Windows Alive garnered attention from active business owners as well.

“We thought we’d expand it to the active business owners too and they were more than welcoming,” Johnson said. “It’s really good that basically the whole downtown area has signed up for the project.”

The owners of the buildings can choose between three main subjects for their window murals: local animals, local landmarks or local Indigenous art.

Most of the murals are still in the design stage, but Johnson was able to share a couple of the works coming to Fort Frances.

“Causeway Insurance is going to have the Causeway drawn on one of their windows, and Turtle Island Cafe and Barber Shop is going to have a turtle,” she said.

All artists commissioned are local. At least five of them will be Fort Frances High School art students.

“It’s going to be great to go down and watch them actually paint these pictures on the windows and be part of the whole process,” Johnson said.

The project is scheduled to be completed by the end of April.