32 THUNDER BA Y EXPERIENCE 2020 Pr eser ving the past w hile b uilding the futur e In the lat e 1960s an ar cheol ogy pr of es sor at Lak ehead Univ er sity l ed a t eam of s tudents who e x c av at ed the sit e of F ort William and f ound the f oundations of the Gr eat Hall palisade pos ts and other r emnants This r einvigor at ed c ommunity int er es t in the f ort s r ec ons truction and in 1971 the Ont ario go v ernment announc ed that the pr oject w ould begin that y ear at P oint e de Meur on 14 kil ometr es ups tr eam fr om the original sit e On Jul y 3 1973 Her Majes ty Queen Elizabeth II and Princ e Phillip offciall y opened Old F ort William no w named F ort William His t oric al P ark with thr ee his t oric buildings Ov er the ne xt dec ade all 46 buildings w er e r ec ons truct ed and furnished with meticul ous att ention t o his t oric det ails r epr esent ativ e of the y ear s ar ound 1816 T oday F ort William His t oric al P ark is a y ear r ound multif ac et ed t ourism attr action educ ational hub and ent ert ainment f acility In addition t o the F ort William living his t ory sit e the park f eatur es the David Thompson As tr onomic al Observ at ory which is home t o one of the lar ges t t el esc opes in c entr al Canada The park also off er s a wide r ange of f es tiv als and e v ents inno v ativ e Indigenous based pr ogr ams immer siv e educ ation pr ogr ams and day c amps w edding and c onf er enc e f acilities and a sc enic RV and t ent c ampgr ound The F ort William living his t ory sit e pr o vides visit or s with an inclusiv e authentic depiction of fur tr ade his t ory f eaturing diff er ent socioec onomic and multicultur al per spectiv es of Canada s his t ory Cos tumed int erpr et er s armed with impr es siv e kno wl edge about their char act er s and the fur tr ade er a help illus tr at e the diff er ent r ol es and c ontributions of the r egion s Indigenous peopl e the F r enchCanadian and Metis v o y ageur s and the Angl oSc ottish fur tr ader s F ort William also pr o vides numer ous opportunities f or visit or s t o l earn about t opics such as the fur tr ade busines s medic al tr eatments dail y lif e f arming and tr ansport ation T w o hundr ed y ear s lat er F ort William His t oric al P ark is as their mott o s t at es pr eserving the pas t whil e building the futur e It is cultiv ating cultur al awar enes s and inclusivity and c onserving and pr omoting Thunder Bay and Ont ario s div er se herit age F ort William His t oric al P ark is l oc at ed t en minut es fr om the Thunder Bay Int ernational Airport at 1350 King Road F or mor e inf ormation visit www fwhpc a or c all 807 4732347