Welland is a city in the

Regional Municipality of Niagara The Regional Municipality of Niagara, also colloquially known as the Niagara Region or Region of Niagara, is a regional municipality comprising twelve municipalities of Southern Ontario, Canada. The regional seat is in Thorold. It is the souther ...

Southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a primary region of the province of Ontario, Canada, the other primary region being Northern Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada. The exact northern boundary of Southern Ontario is disp ...

, Canada. As of 2021, it had a population of 55,750. The city is in the centre of Niagara and located within a half-hour driving distance to

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Fall ...

, Niagara-on-the-Lake, St. Catharines, and

Port Colborne Port Colborne is a city in Ontario, Canada that is located on Lake Erie, at the southern end of the Welland Canal, in the Niagara Region of Southern Ontario. The original settlement, known as Gravelly Bay, dates from 1832 and was renamed afte ...

. It has been traditionally known as the place ''where rails and water meet'', referring to the railways from

Buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * Bubalina, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York Buffalo or buffaloes may also refer to: Animals * Bubalina, a subtribe of the tr ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

and Southwestern Ontario, and the waterways of

Welland Canal The Welland Canal is a ship canal in Ontario, Canada, connecting Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. It forms a key section of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes Waterway. Traversing the Niagara Peninsula from Port Weller in St. Catharines ...

and

Welland River The Welland River (originally called the Chippawa Creek) is a river in the Golden Horseshoe that passes through the Southern Ontario cities of Welland and Niagara Falls. It flows from its source just south of Hamilton, Ontario to meet the Nia ...

, which played a great role in the city's development. The city has developed on both sides of the Welland River and Welland Canal, which connect Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.

History

The area was settled in 1788 by

United Empire Loyalists United Empire Loyalists (or simply Loyalists) is an honorific title which was first given by the 1st Lord Dorchester, the Governor of Quebec, and Governor General of The Canadas, to American Loyalists who resettled in British North America dur ...

who had been granted land by the Crown to compensate for losses due to property they left in the British Thirteen Colonies during and after the American Revolutionary War. Tensions continued between Great Britain and the newly independent United States, and the War of 1812 broke out. On 19 October 1814, Canadian forces led by

George Hay, 8th Marquess of Tweeddale Field Marshal George Hay, 8th Marquess of Tweeddale (1 February 1787 – 10 October 1876) was a British soldier and administrator. He served as a staff officer in the Peninsular War under Arthur Wellesley and was with Wellesley at the Second B ...

, met an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

raiding party, numbering approximately nine hundred, near the eastern edge of the present community during the

Battle of Cook's Mills The Battle of Cook's Mills was the last engagement between U.S. and British armies in the Niagara, and the penultimate engagement (followed by the Battle of Malcolm's Mills) on Canadian soil during the War of 1812. After about a half-hour, Ame ...

. After an intense skirmish, the Americans retreated to

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

. Cook's Mills was the second to last engagement of the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

on Canadian soil. The

First Welland Canal The Welland Canal has gone through many incarnations in its history. Today, five distinct canal-construction efforts are recognized. The retronym First Welland Canal is applied to the original canal, constructed from 1824 to 1829 and 1831 to 183 ...

was extended in 1833 to reach

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also h ...

and has influenced development of this city ever since. A wooden aqueduct was built to carry the Welland Canal over the Welland River at what is now downtown Welland, and the area became known as simply Aqueduct. A lock to cross from the canal to the river and vice versa was also built. A small shantytown soon developed around the facility, providing essential services in what was a convenient stop-over location for travellers and workers on the canal. The growing town was later named Merrittsville, after

William Hamilton Merritt William Hamilton Merritt (July 3, 1793July 5, 1862) was a businessman and politician in the Niagara Peninsula of Upper Canada in the early 19th century. Although he was born in the United States, his family was Loyalist and eventually settl ...

, the initiator of the Welland Canal project. This name is reflected in the name of the Merrittville Highway (Niagara Road 50), which served as the primary north-south route in central Niagara before the construction of Highway 406. Welland gained its present name when it was incorporated on 25 July 1858. It became a city in 1917. One of the few railway crossings across the canal was near Welland. Together with the canal, these two factors attracted the development of

heavy industry Heavy industry is an industry that involves one or more characteristics such as large and heavy products; large and heavy equipment and facilities (such as heavy equipment, large machine tools, huge buildings and large-scale infrastructure); o ...

in Welland. In 1906 the

Plymouth Cordage Company The Plymouth Cordage Company was a rope making company located in Plymouth, Massachusetts. History The company, founded in 1824, had a large factory located on the Plymouth waterfront. By the late 19th century, the Plymouth Cordage Company h ...

was the first major industrial company to open a plant in Welland. By the 1930s, Welland was an important industrial city in the region and was developing rapidly. In the 1960s, the city was starting to outgrow the canal passing through its core. The

Welland By-Pass The Welland By-pass, completed in 1973, was a massive construction project on the Welland Canal in Ontario, Canada. A new channel long was constructed, providing a shorter, more direct alignment between Port Robinson and Port Colborne and by-pa ...

project, started in 1967 and finished in 1973, provided a new, shorter alignment for the Welland Canal by moving it from downtown Welland to the city's outskirts. With the completion of the bypass, Welland's east end (and the former town of Crowland) was like an island between the new and old canal channels. The City of Welland is working to revitalize the downtown core through an ongoing community improvement plan. Integral to the program is the use of incentives to promote revitalization and redevelopment. A report published by the City of Welland in 2013 said, "for over 10 years now, these programs have produced only very moderate uptake and development since being introduced." Other former industrial cities have grappled with similar painful transitions.

Government

The Welland city council is made up of 12 councillors, each elected in his or her

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

(this is known as election by single-member districts). Each of the six wards in Welland elects two councillors. It is led by the mayor, who is elected at-large, by all the voters in the city. Welland's current mayor is Frank Campion. In addition, two regional councillors are elected at-large, to participate in the

Niagara Regional Council The Niagara Regional Council is the governing body of the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but i ...

. These councillors were George Marshall and the late

Peter Kormos Peter Kormos (October 7, 1952 – March 30, 2013) was a politician in Welland, Ontario, Canada. A lawyer by profession, he was first elected as an Ontario New Democratic Party (ONDP) Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) to the Legislative Ass ...

, who died in March 2013. Another representative of Welland was appointed to fill Kormos's seat since late May 2013, in order to represent the city on the Regional Council. MVA Response Welland FD 02

The city is responsible for fire protection, libraries, parks and recreation and secondary streets, but many municipal services come from the broader level of government, the Niagara Region. Regional responsibilities include social welfare, community health, and policing through the Niagara Regional Police. The chief local political issue is the redevelopment of the downtown core, which has deteriorated in the years after the Welland By-Pass project. The Civic Square project has been completed after spanning the terms of three city councils and three mayors. The new building, facing both East Main Street and the old canal, houses the city hall and the Welland Public Library. The project is proving to be a catalyst for development, as several new establishments have been opened downtown and some businesses are expanding. Welland is represented in the House of Commons of Canada by the Liberal Party Member of Parliament

Vance Badawey Vance M. Badawey (born October 5, 1964) is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent the riding of Niagara Centre in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2015 federal election. Badawey was first elected to the city council of Port ...

, and in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by the NDP Member of Provincial Parliament

Jeff Burch Jeff Burch is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 2018 provincial election.Niagara Centre and the provincial ridings of Niagara Centre, respectively.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by Statistics Canada, Welland had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. Another significant cultural group was established with the opening of the Plymouth Cordage plant. Many workers relocated to Welland from the company's operations in Plymouth, Massachusetts were of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

origin. To minimise the potential effects of cultural and language barriers, Plymouth Cordage sent four foremen to Welland: one was Italian, one French, one German and one English. The neighbourhood that the company built for its employees, now the ''Plymouth Cordage Heritage District'', became the first Italian ethnic neighbourhood in Welland. The Top 5 largest ethnic groups include:

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: 24.9%, French: 23.3%, Scottish: 14.4%,

: 13.3%, and

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

: 13.1%. There are also many people of eastern European origin from countries like

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

, and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, as well as a growing Hispanic community.

Education

Like the rest of Ontario, Welland has access to four public education systems: the regional

school board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...

s are the

Niagara Catholic District School Board The Niagara Catholic District School Board (Niagara Catholic or NCDSB, previously known as English-language Separate District School Board No. 50 prior to 1999) is the publicly funded Catholic school board in the Regional Municipality of Niagara ...

and the

District School Board of Niagara The District School Board of Niagara (DSBN, known as English-language Public District School Board No. 22 prior to 1999) is a school board in the public school system of Ontario, Canada, in the Regional Municipality of Niagara. Its head office ...

. The

Conseil scolaire Viamonde The Conseil scolaire Viamonde (CSV) is a public-secular French first language school board, and manages elementary and secondary schools in the Ontario Peninsula and the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The school board operates 41 elementary schools an ...

(the French public board) and the

Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir ( en, My Future Catholic School Board) is a Roman Catholic French first language public- separate school board that manages elementary and secondary schools in the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The school board op ...

(the French Catholic board) also operate schools in Welland. The Niagara Catholic District School Board operates six elementary schools within the city. The board also operates one secondary school in the city: Notre Dame, which offers Grade 9 through to Grade 12. Continuing education courses are also offered by the board at its Father Patrick H. Fogarty Learning Centre within the city. The District School Board of Niagara operates ten elementary schools within the city and two secondary schools: Welland Centennial servicing the western side of the city and Eastdale Secondary servicing the eastern side. A campus of Niagara College of Applied Arts and Technology is located in Welland. The college offers post-secondary diplomas, baccalaureate degrees and advanced-level programs. From 1995 to 2001, the city was home to a satellite campus of the defunct francophone Collège des Grands-Lacs.

Economy

Welland, because of its proximity to the

Sir Adam Beck Sir Adam Beck (June 20, 1857 – August 15, 1925) was a Canadian politician and hydroelectricity advocate who founded the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario. Biography Beck was born in Baden, Upper Canada (now Ontario) to German ...

hydroelectric station at

, was historically known for its steel, automotive, and textile industries. Initially,

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to ...

firms were the biggest employers in Welland. The plants of companies like

Union Carbide Union Carbide Corporation is an American chemical corporation wholly owned subsidiary (since February 6, 2001) by Dow Chemical Company. Union Carbide produces chemicals and polymers that undergo one or more further conversions by customers befo ...

, United Steel,

, three drop forges, a cotton mill, and the Atlas Steel Co., as well as general manufacturing plants, had big influence on shaping early Welland. While recent years saw the end of Welland operations for several companies, such as John Deere which announced in September 2008 that it would be closing its plant and relocating manufacturing to Wisconsin and Mexico, businesses such as Lakeside Steel (a pipe plant formerly owned by Stelco, since 2012 owned by JMC Steel) continues to employ residents. The Atlas Steel Co. was founded at some time in the 1920s. Roy H. Davis and partners bought the Welland plant from its American shareholders in 1928. Gun barrels were produced here during the second World War. It was for a time Canada's largest manufacturer of stainless steel. The plant housed a vacuum smelter line, necessary for the production of

Titanium Titanium is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resista ...

. The onset of the CanAm FTA, NAFTA,

GATT The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is a legal agreement between many countries, whose overall purpose was to promote international trade by reducing or eliminating trade barriers such as tariffs or quotas. According to its prea ...

and globalization brought decline, and subsequently the ownership changed hands numerous times: the Sammi group acquired it in 1989, followed by Slater Steels of Mississauga in 2000, who went bankrupt in 2003. The plant was finally torn down in 2007. The Canadian branch plant of the Plymouth Cordage Company was started in 1904 due to Parliament's initiation of a 25% import duty on rope and related products. Plymouth, with roots in

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, moved to secure its business in binding twine, necessary to package farm crops such as grass, wheat or straw. The city of Welland grew up around the Plymouth plant, which was prior to 1904, farmland. The cordage industry was a victim of the harvester-thresher, which obviated the need for binding (or baling) twine, as the threshing operation is now performed in a contiguous step immediately when the stalk is cut. Welland's electricity comes from the

hydroelectric generation plants at

via Welland Hydro. Thanks to the presence of the massive plant, power remained on in over half of Welland during the

2003 North America blackout The Northeast blackout of 2003 was a widespread power outage throughout parts of the Northeastern and Midwestern United States, and most parts of the Canadian province of Ontario on Thursday, August 14, 2003, beginning just after 4:10 p.m. ...

until rolling blackouts began the next day in an effort to provide power to areas that hadn't had it for nearly 24 hours.

Geography

Welland is located in the centre of south Niagara. Over the years, urban growth has all but united the northwest part of Welland with the community of Fonthill. Prior to the Welland By-Pass project, the Welland Canal cut through the centre of Welland. As a result, a very prominent split was created between the east side and the west side of the city. The west side grew primarily to the north, while the east side expanded south. The west side also became the more affluent of the two. Today, even though the canal traffic no longer causes regular interruption in the traffic across the city, the channel lives on as Welland Recreational Waterway. The waterway still serves as a very prominent visual feature dividing the city, and it is perhaps for this reason that the east side/west side division is still very much alive in the minds of Wellanders. ''East side'' and ''west side'' are very commonly used as basic directions. The communities of Cooks Mills and Dain City have their own separation stories. Cooks Mills, located on the other side of the By-Pass channel than the rest of Welland, has arguably been protected against the impact of

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...

, but the necessity of using one of the two highway tunnels to cross the canal causes some residents to head to nearby

instead. Dain City, located in the south of the city where the two channels meet, is separated by the massive approaches to the

Townline Tunnel The Townline Tunnel is an underwater tunnel in Welland, Ontario, Canada carrying Highway 58A as well as the Canadian Pacific Railway under the Welland Canal. The tunnel The Townline Tunnel is a two-cell reinforced concrete tunnel with a re ...

required to provide the low grade for the rail lines that use the tunnel. Dain City was built for, and by, the Dain Manufacturing Company (Now known as John Deere), the main employer in the area, as a " company town". John Deere announced in September 2008 that it would be closing its plant and relocating manufacturing to Wisconsin and Mexico. There is a slight movement to develop the northern end of the east side, an undeveloped area. A community named Hunters Pointe is being built close to the banks of the By-Pass, and the area received further investment when a new

Wal-Mart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

store opened on Woodlawn Road close to Highway 406. Technically, both the east side and Dain City are peninsulas, surrounded by the waters of the old and new channels of the Welland Canal and connected to "solid" ground only by the relatively small plug in the old canal along the Townline Tunnel approaches. Crowland is a former township created in 1788 that grew up around Ontario Road and Welland Recreational Canal. A man-made geographic feature is the Merritt Island, a strip of land approximately five kilometres long and, in some places, less than 100 metres wide. The island was created when the alignment of the

was constructed basically parallel to the

and since the abandonment of the old canal has been established as Merritt Park, featuring a popular four kilometre-long paved trail.

Climate

Welland experiences a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Dfa/Dfb'') typical of the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lak ...

region, with cold, snowy winters, mild, wet springs, warm to hot, humid summers, and cool, wet falls. The winter is the driest

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

, with no more than 77.8 mm (3.06 in.) of

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

in its wettest month. Though, due to lake-effect snow, the

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

receives, on average, 97.8 cm (38.5 in.) of

snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

every winter. The average

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measurement, measured with a thermometer. Thermometers are calibrated in various Conversion of units of temperature, temp ...

in January, the coldest month, is −4.7

°C The degree Celsius is the unit of temperature on the Celsius scale (originally known as the centigrade scale outside Sweden), one of two temperature scales used in the International System of Units (SI), the other being the Kelvin scale. The ...

(23.5 °F). Spring is mild (13 °C (55.4 °F) on average) and rainy (240.3 mm (9.46 in.) of

rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water ...

in April, May and June, also with 5.4 cm (2.12 in.) of snow in April and May). Summer is warm, with an average high temperature of 24.5 °C (76.2 °F) and, humid, with 251 mm (9.88in.) of total

rainfall Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...

. Autumn is cool (average temperature of 4.3 °C (39.7 °F)) and wet (actually, the wettest of Welland's

s) (273.7 mm 10.8 in.) of total

. The extreme high and low temperatures are 37.8 °C (100 °F), recorded on 4 July 1911; 1 July 1931; 26 August 1948, and −32.8 °C (-27 °F), recorded on 25 January 1884. Daily precipitation extremes include a rainfall of 118.4 mm (4.66 in.) on 30 September 1959, and a snowfall of 81.3 cm (32.0 inches) on 1 March 1900. One of the worst winter storms to affect the Welland area was in January 1977 when the Blizzard of '77 hit Niagara and Western New York from 28 January to 1 February 1977.

Parks

Notable parks are Chippawa Park, an older, well-developed park in the northwest; Memorial Park, a newer park in the southeast which has been shrunk for suburban development; and Merritt Island Park along the canal with an upper level paved trail and lower level gravel trail. Chippawa Park has rolling hills, mature specimen trees (predominantly Carolinian, including several species of Hickory and Maple), playgrounds, a large pond, and small ornamental fish pond in a formal rose garden. It features a large war memorial carved from Lacasse granite and designed by a famous Canadian sculptor,

Elizabeth Wyn Wood Elizabeth Winnifred Wood (October 8, 1903 – January 27, 1966), known as Elizabeth Wyn Wood, was a Canadian sculptor and advocate of art education. A notable figure in Canadian sculpture, she is primarily known for her modernist interpretation ...

. Memorial Park was a project of the 1967 Centennial. It is very flat with younger trees. It has an outdoor pool shaped like a figure 8. There is also a cenotaph at this park. In the late 1960s, the eastern part of the park was used for the Welland Canal bypass. Patrons of the park can often see ships passing through the bypass. At the heart of the old city of Welland, near the Main Street Bridge, the Welland River passes under the old Welland Canal, then runs parallel to it for a few miles. Between the old canal and the river lies a long narrow strip of land referred to as Merritt Island that is now a park. The end of the park closest to the centre of the city has picnic tables and playground equipment. The island also includes a main trail that follows the bank of the old canal for the entire length of the park, with a variety of intermittent side paths and trails. Also located in the heart of downtown, between Main Street and Division Street bridges along the west side of the Welland Recreational Waterway, is a small parkette dubbed "Guerrilla Park" by locals. It was originally park space that had become neglected over years and was reclaimed as public space by volunteers. Through efforts of local artists and

guerrilla gardening Guerrilla gardening is the act of gardening – raising food, plants, or flowers – on land that the gardeners do not have the legal rights to cultivate, such as abandoned sites, areas that are not being cared for, or private property. It enco ...

, the formerly neglected space is now tended by various unorganized volunteers, and features revitalized garden beds and flowers, outdoor paintings, and occasional impromptu events.

Welland Canal trails

The Welland Canal Parkway Trail is a paved recreational path beginning in the City of St. Catharines at

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border ...

and ending at Lake Erie in

. The sections of the trail located within Welland are paved. The trail follows alongside the Welland ship and Recreational Canals, and passes through downtown Welland.

Transport

Welland Canal

The Welland Canal, linking

with Lake Erie, is the transportation mode that Welland is best known for. Until 1972, the canal passed through downtown Welland. As of the end of the 1972 shipping season, the canal was re-routed via the Welland Canal Bypass east of the city. Welland clings to its canal heritage, as evidenced by the steadfast preservation of the Main Street

Lift Bridge A vertical-lift bridge or just lift bridge is a type of movable bridge in which a span rises vertically while remaining parallel with the deck. The vertical lift offers several benefits over other movable bridges such as the bascule and sw ...

( Welland Canal, bridge 13) shown in the photograph above.

Roads

Highway 406 is the main route in and out of Welland, leading north to

Thorold Thorold is a city in Ontario, Canada, located on the Niagara Escarpment. It is also the seat of the Regional Municipality of Niagara. The Welland Canal passes through the city, featuring lock 7 and the Twin Flight Locks. History The first s ...

, St. Catharines and onwards via

Queen Elizabeth Way The Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario linking Toronto with the Niagara Peninsula and Buffalo, New York. The freeway begins at the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie and travels around the western ...

. Port Colborne is linked to Welland by Highways 140 and 58. Port Colborne residents then can take the 406 further north. The Mid-Peninsula Highway, once constructed, can play an important role in the transportation patterns of Welland, as it might cross the Welland Canal along the Highway 58A corridor in the south of the city. Should that occur, Highway 406 will likely be extended to reach the new thoroughfare. Two of the three tunnels under the canal,

Main Street Tunnel The Main Street Tunnel, located in Welland, Ontario, Canada, is an underwater tunnel, carrying Niagara Road 27 and the unsigned designation of Highway 7146 under the Welland Canal. It is named as a part of East Main Street. The structure was bu ...

and Townline Tunnel, are located in Welland, just east of the main urbanised area.

Railways

Welland boasts a rich railway history. The city motto is "Where Rails and Water Meet", referring to the two prevalent means of transportation. The

Canada Southern Railway The Canada Southern Railway , also known as CSR, was a railway in southwestern Ontario, Canada, founded on February 28, 1868 as the Erie and Niagara Extension Railway. Its name was changed to Canada Southern Railway on December 24, 1869. The 1868 ...

(CASO) passed through the south end of Welland, with a passenger station on King Street. The CASO operated very few trains of its own – the majority of traffic on the line consisted of New York Central Railway trains transiting between

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the southe ...

(and the tunnel to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

), and one of two bridges over the Niagara River located at

and

Fort Erie Fort Erie is a town on the Niagara River in the Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada. It is directly across the river from Buffalo, New York, and is the site of Old Fort Erie which played a prominent role in the War of 1812. Fort Erie is one of Ni ...

. Welland was also the terminus of the

Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo Railway The Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway was a railway based in Hamilton that ran in Southern Ontario from 1892 to 1987. It never reached the other two cities in its name, although it did have branch lines extending to Dunnville and Port Maitla ...

's track (the link to Buffalo, New York being via the CASO line). The T, H & B ran joint passenger trains with the New York Central to provide through service between

and Buffalo (via

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a Canada 2016 Census, population of 569,353, and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington, ...

and Welland). There was also a Canadian National Railways (earlier,

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rail ...

) line running in a North/South direction and crossing the CASO line at Welland Diamond. An interlocking tower (WX) stood here. Another line ran through the Dain City area of south Welland. This was the

Canada Air Line Railway Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by total ...

, and was also used by the Wabash Railway. Later, it became the Cayuga Subdivision of the Canadian National Railway. Lastly, the Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto Railway provided electric

interurban The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 ...

service from Port Colborne, Ontario to

Thorold, Ontario Thorold is a city in Ontario, Canada, located on the Niagara Escarpment. It is also the seat of the Regional Municipality of Niagara. The Welland Canal passes through the city, featuring lock 7 and the Twin Flight Locks. History The first su ...

via Welland. Passenger service ended in November 1959, but the tracks remained in freight use until 1981 when a trestle over the Welland River became unsafe and the line was removed from service. The relocation of the Welland Canal in the early 1970s caused massive changes in the local railway network. The new route of the canal was previously crossed by five separate railway lines. The new segment of canal would have no bridges, and just one railway tunnel, so all of these routes required redesign. The two branches of the CASO line, plus the Cayuga Subdivision were re-routed through the Townline Tunnel, while the North/South Canadian National line was split and discontinued as a through route. The station at King Street was abandoned and demolished. It was replaced by a new station outside of town, but passenger service ended soon after. Today, Welland is the location of one of only two remaining railway crossings that span the Welland Canal. The Townline Tunnel is built for three railway tracks, but the center track was removed in the early 1990s. Now, only two tracks run through the tunnel. The north track is the Canadian Pacific Railway Hamilton subdivision. The south track was formerly the Canadian National Railway Cayuga subdivision. Since the abandonment of the majority of that subdivision, operations on this track were limited to occasional trains interchanging with Trillium Rail's Port Colborne Harbour Railway. Today, Canadian Pacific also uses this track as their "Brookfield Siding". There is also a

Trillium Railway The Trillium Railway is a Canadian short-line railroad operating in the province of Ontario. Much of its right-of-way in the Niagara area was formerly part of the " Welland Canal Railway" (also known as the Welland Railway) that closely follo ...

(Port Colborne Harbour Railway) north-south line running through the east side of Welland on the former Welland Canal railway/Canadian National tracks beside the former site of the Atlas Specialty Steels plant (torn down in 2007). A daily as requested (Monday to Friday) train operates along this route to Merritton. Trillium Railway has a handful of industries throughout Thorold and St. Catharines, on the former Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto trackage. No passenger trains stop in Welland – the closest

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...

stations are in St. Catharines and

ceased operations of their own trains to these stations on 25 October 2012.

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

does operate 2 trains to these stations, under

control. Prior to the Welland Canal relocation in the early 1970s, there were two bridges crossing the old canal. The busiest was a swing bridge located between the Lincoln and Broadway bridges (the CASO line). This bridge was a relic of an earlier canal, and although it does not swing any longer, it remains in railway use. Once or twice per week, a local Trillium Rwy way freight crosses this bridge to access Vesuvius Industries on the west side of the old canal located on Trillium Rwy's West Welland Spur. The second crossing was as vertical-lift bridge at Dain City, Ontario which also remains in use as the Trillium Rail Canal line. Prior to 1967, this section of The Canal line was referred to as CN's Cayuga Subdivision. The Cayuga Subdivision was then re-routed through the Townline Tunnel, which is to the north of Dain City. This section through Dain City was renamed the Canal Subdivision from this location at CN Welland Diamond, where it connects to the north-south trackage (former CN Welland Subdivision). This east-west trackage head continues to this day westward to a rail junction the by-pass of what is now operated as Trillium's Cayuga Spur, (Former location 3 miles away, west of Phillip's Road where the original ground of the CN Cayuga Subdivision continued onto St. Thomas, ON. Do note that CP Brookfield Siding becomes Trillium's Cayuga Spur where the Feeder Canal once cross through, prior to the building of this Townline Tunnel infrastructure, in the 1800s. This Cayuga Subdivision by-pass runs from between Wilhelm Road and Troup Road, east of Welland and to the west between Phillip's Road (mentioned above) Green Road S,(Formerly Farr Road S.). In total, the Cayuga Subdivision by-pass was a total length of 8.9 miles. A recent initiative proposed by local businessmen and politicians, in particular

owner Wayne Ettinger and former mayor Damian Goulbourne calls for the planned

GO Train GO Transit rail services are provided throughout the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) and the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The GO Transit rail fleet consists of 90 MPI MP40 locomotives and 979 Bombardier BiLevel Coaches. In , the system had ...

extension into the Niagara Region to include a station — and cross the Welland Canal — in Welland rather than St. Catharines. The proponents argue that an adequate rail line is already in place and using the Trillium's track through the Townline Tunnel would allow for uninterrupted train traffic to Niagara Falls. They also point out that a station in Welland would fit in the Niagara Region's "Grow South" policy of expanding the infrastructure south of the Niagara Escarpment.

Air

The closest airport to Welland is the Welland/Niagara Central Airport on the western edge of the city. It is a small field airport and is not served by any regular links, but it is an international point of entry. However, the airport is under a number of developments in hopes to expand its services. For now, most air travellers use either Toronto's

Lester B. Pearson International Airport Lester B. Pearson International Airport , commonly known as Toronto Pearson International Airport, is an international airport located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is the main airport serving Toronto, its metropolitan area, and the su ...

Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport is a regional airport located on the Toronto Islands in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is often referred to as Toronto Island Airport and was previously known as ''Port George VI Island Airport'' and ''Toronto ...

or Hamilton's

John C. Munro International Airport John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport is an international airport in Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The airport is part of the neighbourhood of Mount Hope, Hamilton, Ontario, Mount Hope, southwest of Downtown Hamilton and ...

. The

Buffalo Niagara International Airport Buffalo Niagara International Airport is in Cheektowaga, New York. The airport serves Buffalo, New York and Niagara Falls, New York United States, and the southern Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. It is the third-busiest airport i ...

is also used by some, as it is the closest, although it requires that travellers cross the American border. Another option for Wellanders is St. Catharines/Niagara District Airport with flights to

thanks to FlyGTA Airways as well as various charter flights to/from Niagara.

Public transit

Between 1912 and 1930, local

streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport a ...

service was provided in Welland by the Niagara, Welland and Lake Erie railway which operated on East Main Street and King Street (then known as South Main Street). This company also provided a short-lived service on West Main Street and Niagara Street (then known as North Main) for about 6 months in 1922. Since 1973,

Welland Transit Welland Transit was a public transportation agency in Welland, Ontario, Canada from 1977 to 2022. Upon its inception in 1973 the bus service was operated by a private company, known as "Metro Niagara Transit," funded by the city of Welland, which a ...

operates the public transport service of scheduled bus services and paratransit covering the city. Also provided is ''Welland-St. Catharines Connection'', a link to the St. Catharines public transit system from

Niagara College The Niagara College of Applied Arts and Technology (frequently shortened to Niagara College and branded as Niagara College Canada) is a public College of Applied Arts and Technology within the Niagara Region and the city of Toronto in Southe ...

Brock University Brock University is a public research university in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is the only university in Canada in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, at the centre of Canada's Niagara Peninsula on the Niagara Escarpment. The university bears t ...

terminal in St. Catharines, with the first and last run of the day interconnecting to the downtown core. Service is also provided to

and Pelham.

Events

The Concerts on the Canal series provides a line-up of free Friday night summer concerts on the floating stage at Merritt Park. Niagara Regional Exhibition, running since 1853, is held at the Fairgrounds in the north end of the city every fall. Tradition stands that on at least one of the operational days it will rain. Canada Day Celebrations has become a local favourite event. The free family fun event is hosted in downtown Welland at Merritt Park. The Farmers' Market, held downtown in the Market Square, features 80+ vendors offering food, Niagara wines, produce and homemade items every Saturday morning, year-round. Welland's Eastdale High School held its 50th Anniversary Reunion on 20, 21 and 22 May 2011. The Welland High and Vocational School Reunion was held 15/16 May 2009 in Welland. The Welland

Dragon Boat A dragon boat is a human-powered watercraft originating from the Pearl River Delta region of China's southern Guangdong Province. These were made of teak, but in other parts of China, different kinds of wood are used. It is one of a family ...

Festival, takes place in June. The Welland Rose Festival is one of Niagara's longest running festivals. The Rose Festival promotes and encourages community participation through many events such as the Rose Parade, Baby Show, Rose Show, Days in the Park, and more. Celebrating 50 years in 2011, the Rose Festival continues to offer a host of spectacular events and entertainers in the month of June. The city will host the 2018

Canoe Polo World Championships The ICF Canoe Polo World Championships are international competitions in the sport of canoe polo. They have taken place every two years since 1994 (U21 since 2002), in a different venue each time. Medals are awarded by national team; the German te ...

at the

Welland International Flatwater Centre The Welland International Flatwater Centre is a current canoeing, kayaking and rowing facility in Welland, Ontario, Canada and was used for the 2013 ICF Junior and U23 Canoe Sprint World Championships and the 2015 Pan American Games. The facility ...

. Welland FloatFest began in 2016 and usually occurs for one day in July. The aim of the event is to encourage participants to enjoy the

Welland Recreational Waterway The Welland Recreational Waterway is a water channel in the city of Welland, Ontario, Canada. It is an old alignment of the Welland Ship Canal that was abandoned after the construction of the Welland By-Pass in the 1970s. The Waterway is now man ...

by use of an inflatable. The event is complemented with vendors and a concert. In 2017, FloatFest gained a Guinness World Record for a line of touching inflatables that extended 165 metres in the canal to make it into the record book. The Welland Zombie Walk is a community-based event held in October for the past several years.

Notable people

* Stacey Allaster – former Chair,

Women's Tennis Association The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) is the principal organizing body of women's professional tennis. It governs the WTA Tour which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women and was founded to create a better future for women's tenn ...

* Attack In Black – Alternative Band *

Paul Beeston Paul McGill Beeston, (born June 20, 1945) is a Canadian former professional baseball executive. He was the president and chief operating officer of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1997 to 2002, and the president of the Toronto Blue Jays from 19 ...

– former president of Major League Baseball and former president of the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

. *

Paul Bissonnette Paul Albert Bissonnette (born March 11, 1985), nicknamed "Biz Nasty", is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Phoenix Coyotes. Bissonnette is currently ...

– colour commentator and former NHL hockey player * Ken Breitenbach – former Buffalo Sabres Hockey Player (NHL) * Nina Bunjevac – cartoonist *

Cal Clutterbuck Cal William Clutterbuck (born November 18, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger and alternate captain for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). Clutterbuck was drafted 72nd overall by the Minnesota Wild i ...

– New York Islanders player * Yvon Corriveau – retired NHL hockey player (Washington, Hartford) *

Brian Daboll Brian Michael Daboll (; born April 14, 1975) is a Canadian-born American football coach who is the head coach of the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Bro ...

– Head Coach, New York Giants *

Sabrina D'Angelo Sabrina Victoria D'Angelo (born May 11, 1993) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Women's Super League club Arsenal and the Canada national team. D'Angelo was selected 21st overall in the 2015 NWSL Colleg ...

- Goalkeeper for Canadian Women's National Soccer Team and

North Carolina Courage The North Carolina Courage is a professional women's soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina. It was founded on January 9, 2017, after Stephen Malik acquired National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchise rights from the Western New York ...

* Andre Deveaux – professional hockey player, Florida Panthers * Matt Ellis –

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

hockey player. *

Robert Hilborn Falls Admiral Robert Hilborn Falls, (April 24, 1924 – November 6, 2009) was Chief of Defence Staff of the Canadian Forces from 1977 to 1980. Military career Falls first joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1942 as a pilot and later transferred to ...

– Chief of the Defence Staff *

Simon Gatti Simon Gatti (born February 16, 1981) is a Canadian former soccer player and current head coach for thMontreal Impact Academys U-14 team. He initially began his career in his home region of Niagara with St. Catharines Wolves in the Canadian Pro ...

– soccer player * Daniel Girardi –

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

hockey player. * Wayne Groulx – former NHL/Austrian league Hockey player *

Chris Haney Christopher Deane Haney (born November 19, 1968) is an American former Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. He pitched from 1991–2000 and in 2002 for the Montreal Expos, Kansas City Royals, Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, and Boston Re ...

– Co-inventor of "

Trivial Pursuit ''Trivial Pursuit'' is a board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures gam ...

" board game * Curtis Harrison – actor, writer * Mike Hominuck – player for the

Toronto Rock The Toronto Rock are a professional box lacrosse franchise based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the North Division of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The team was the first Canadian franchise in the NLL. Oakville resident ...

of the NLL. *

Nathan Horton Nathan Russell Horton (born May 29, 1985) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. During his career, Horton played for the Florida Panthers, Boston Bruins and Columbus Blue Jackets. He was drafted third overall by the Panthers in the ...

–

Columbus Blue Jackets The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ...

player *

Bill Huard William John Huard (born June 24, 1967) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played in the National Hockey League between 1992 and 1999 with six teams. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1988 to 2000, was spent in diffe ...

– former NHL Hockey Player *

Matt Johnson (ice hockey) Matt Johnson (born November 23, 1975) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger. He played parts of 10 seasons as an enforcer in the National Hockey League with the Los Angeles Kings, Atlanta Thrashers and the Minnesota Wild. Joh ...

– former NHL Hockey Player *

– long-serving NDP Member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario * Anthony Lacavera - founder of

Globalive Globalive is a Canadian telecommunications and investment company founded in 1998. It is based in Toronto, Ontario. Globalive is best known for its telecommunication businesses like WIND Mobile, Yak Communications, and OneConnect. The company, G ...

and

Wind Mobile Freedom Mobile Inc. is a Canadian wireless telecommunications provider owned by Shaw Communications. It has 6% market share of Canada, mostly in urban areas of Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta. Freedom Mobile is the fourth-largest wirele ...

* Amy Ciupak Lalonde – actress * Anna Olson – host of '' Sugar'' and '' Fresh with Anna Olson'' on

Food Network Canada Food Network, formerly called Food Network Canada, is a Canadian English language specialty channel based on the U.S. cable network of the same name. It airs programming related to food, cooking, cuisine, and the food industry. The Canadian versi ...

(Born in

Georgia, United States Georgia is a state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee and North Carolina; to the northeast by South Carolina; to the southeast by the Atlantic Ocean; to the south by ...

, now resides in Welland) *

Daniel Paille Daniel Joseph Paille (born April 15, 1984) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger. He was originally drafted 20th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft and also played in the National Hockey League with the ...

–

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

hockey player. *

Gilbert Parent Gilbert "Gib" Parent (July 25, 1935 – March 3, 2009) was a Canadian member of Parliament. He is best known in his role as speaker of the House of Commons of Canada between 1994 and 2001. Parent was born on July 25, 1935, in Mattawa, Ontario, ...

– former Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada * Mike Pelino – professional hockey coach * Matthew Santoro –

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

comedian and video blogger * Mike Smrek – former NBA player (Chicago, Los Angeles, San Antonio & Golden State) *

Daniel Romano Daniel Tavis Romano (born 1985) is a Canadian musician, poet and visual artist based out of his hometown of Welland, Ontario. He is primarily known as a solo artist, though he is also a member of Attack in Black and has collaborated with Julie D ...

–

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

and

Rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

musician, visual artist and leather craftsman

In popular culture

Welland's

Seaway Mall Seaway Mall is an enclosed shopping mall in Welland, Ontario, Canada. The mall has of space and includes tenants such as Sport Chek, Cineplex Entertainment, Winners and Shoppers Drug Mart. History Seaway Mall opened on April 23, 1975 with ancho ...

gained national attention when a

flash mob A flash mob (or flashmob) is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform for a brief time, then quickly disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, and artistic expression. Flash mobs may be organized via t ...

was filmed singing the

Hallelujah Chorus ''Messiah'' ( HWV 56), the English-language oratorio composed by George Frideric Handel in 1741, is structured in three parts. This listing covers Part II in a table and comments on individual movements, reflecting the relation of the musical s ...

in the food court in November 2010. A video of the event went viral on

, gaining 14.4 million views in less than a month. On 8 December,

Canada AM ''Canada AM'' was a Canadian morning television news show that aired on CTV from 1972 to 2016. Its final hosts were Beverly Thomson and Marci Ien, with Jeff Hutcheson presenting the weather forecast and sports. The program aired on weekdays, an ...

broadcast a live performance from the same food court, drawing a crowd of about 500 people. Welland was the site of the first scene filmed for the movie Meatballs. Actor

Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on '' Saturday Nig ...

appears in front of the Kmart at Seaway Mall.

References

Citations

* * * *

External links

* {{Authority control Cities in Ontario Lower-tier municipalities in Ontario Populated places established in 1788 1788 establishments in the Province of Quebec (1763–1791)