Barrie, Ontario
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Barrie, Ontario (2003 population 121,248, metropolitan population 168,492) is located on Kempenfelt Bay, an arm of Lake Simcoe in south-central Ontario, Canada. (Latitude: 44.3905, longitude: -79.6857) It is the county seat of Simcoe County.
The city was named in 1832 after Sir Robert Barrie, who was in charge of the naval forces in Canada and frequently had to portage from Lake Simcoe to Georgian Bay through the city.
The city's north and south ends are separated by a deep valley which contains the downtown area as well as Kempenfelt Bay. The southern hill contains the 1000 foot CHAY and CKVR-TV radio and television transmitter. On September 27, 1977, in dense fog, a small plane hit a previous version of the CKVR tower, knocking CHAY and CKVR-TV off the air. All on the aircraft were killed, and the tower was destroyed. A new 1,000 foot tower was erected and was operational within a year.
Different neighborhoods in Barrie include Letitia Heights, Painswick, Allandale, and Holly.
Barrie's waterfront is at the heart of its tourism industry, with events like the Kempenfest arts and crafts festival attracting more than 300,000 people. Sports and recreational activities, like skiing, baseball, hockey and boating attract people to Barrie in all four seasons of the year.
Barrie is home to the main campus of Georgian College,with 3,500 full-time and 10,000 part-time students. As a result, many of the bars and clubs in downtown Barrie are filled with students during the school year.
Barrie is also home to the Maclaren Art Centre, a small but important art gallery that supports the visual arts in Simcoe County. It inspired the "Art City" project, which has had many different large sculptures installed around the city. These can be found in parks and along the senic waterfront.
Several manufacturers are currently located in Barrie and Canadian Forces Base Borden is nearby. In recent years Barrie has become a popular place to live for people who commute to Toronto, or (more often) to the northern suburbs of Toronto in York Region, every day for work.
During World War II the Royal Canadian Navy named a Flower class corvette HMCS Barrie.
On May 31, 1985, an F4 tornado struck Barrie, demolishing many buildings and strewing debris all over the city. 8 people were killed by the tornado in Barrie.
In January of 2004, Barrie made international news when its city police raided the former Molson Breweries site and found Canada's largest illegal marijuana grow operation.
Barrie's Park Place, formerly Molson Park, was recently chosen (http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1119352066774_150) to host Live 8 Canada on July 2nd, 2005.
Demographics
The 2001 census agglomeration found that Barrie has 148,480. The city grows at an average 5% a year as it attracts people from all over Ontario. It is currently one of Canada's fastest growing cities.
Racial Structure
- 94.6% White
- 1.3% Aboriginal
- 1.0% Black
- 0.8% Asian
Religious Groups
- 47.0% Protestant
- 27.9% Roman Catholic
- 3.4% other Christian
- 0.32% Jewish
- 0.3% Muslim
- 21.08% other, non-professing
External links
- Official City of Barrie Website (http://www.city.barrie.on.ca)
- City of Barrie Tourism Website (http://www.barrietourism.on.ca/)
- Barrie Weather (http://www.weather.ca/weather/cities/can/pages/CAON0040.htm)
- Barrie Storm Prediction Center (BSPC) (http://www.bspc.r8.org)de:Barrie (Ontario)