Good evening, neighbour. 👋

Tonight’s Grapevine is arriving after dinner, so we’ll skip the ceremony and get straight to what changed.

Niagara Falls has committed to a major new community centre without flattening the arena already there. Thorold is mailing people who may have been affected by its cyber incident. Grimsby has opened a 20-year transportation plan for comment. And tomorrow evening, anyone who regularly uses McLeod Road can get an early look at a reconstruction project expected to last well into 2028.

In today’s Grapevine:

Let’s get into it.

- Ian

Niagara Falls Council has approved the $59-million Chippawa–Willoughby Community Centre, moving the project into detailed design and pre-construction.

The plan includes a new arena, library, community gymnasium and flexible multi-purpose rooms. It also gives the existing Chippawa arena a second career: instead of being demolished, it is expected to become an indoor turf facility.

Funding is planned through a combination of provincial money, City reserves, proceeds from surplus municipal land and long-term financing.

That does not mean construction starts tomorrow. The project still has to move through detailed design and the rest of the pre-construction process before the first major building milestones arrive.

Still, this is the consequential step. Council has committed to a large recreation and library hub while keeping a recognizable community building useful - a considerably better fate than becoming a fond memory beneath a parking lot.

👉 See the Chippawa–Willoughby project update →

Thorold says its investigation into the June 1 cybersecurity incident is complete, affected systems have been restored and a limited amount of data containing personal information was taken.

The City is now notifying potentially affected people by mail. Those receiving letters will also be offered complimentary Equifax credit monitoring and identity-protection services, with enrolment instructions included.

The network may be back, but the consequences are still reaching actual mailboxes. Thorold has not publicly stated how many people were affected or exactly which categories of personal information were involved.

👉 Read Thorold’s cybersecurity update →

Grimsby has completed its Transportation Master Plan, covering more than 20 years of road, walking, cycling and transit needs.

The plan is now in a 30-day public-review period, with comments accepted until August 10. It is a direction-setting strategy, not a promise that every recommended road, trail or transit project has been funded and scheduled.

But residents can still review it while the comment window is open - which is considerably more useful than finding it six months later beneath three newer planning documents.

👉 Review Grimsby’s Transportation Master Plan →

Pelham has issued a formal Notice of Intention to Designate Old Pelham Town Hall under the Ontario Heritage Act.

Built in 1887–1888, the red-brick building served as a centre of local government and community life for more than a century. The property also includes a First World War cenotaph and a captured German trench mortar.

The building has not been finally designated yet. Anyone objecting to the proposal has until 4:30 p.m. on August 10 to file a notice.

For now, the old town hall has moved from “staff should look into this” to a formal heritage process - encouraging news for a building whose chief survival strategy has apparently been continuing to stand there.

👉 Read Pelham’s heritage notice →

A local Niagara food discussion sent us toward Lokanta, a family-run Mediterranean café, bakery and market in Port Dalhousie.

The order to start with is its two-selection mezze platter, currently listed at $23 and intended as a shared appetizer for two.

Choose two dips or salads from a rotating list that can include muhammara, baba ganoush, feta-pistachio dip, smoked eggplant and dolma with cherries. The platter arrives with cheese, salami, olives, nuts, pickles, seasonal fruit and warm toasted pita.

Muhammara and dolma with cherries would make a good opening move: one smoky and nutty, the other less predictable than the usual grape-leaf routine.

The selections change with the season and available ingredients, which is a better reason to pause at the counter than simply forgetting whose turn it was to choose.

🍽️ Two-selection mezze platter · $23
📍 Lokanta Mediterranean · 50 Lakeport Rd., Port Dalhousie
👉 See Lokanta’s current mezze menu →