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📰 Local News – Can Cobalt Afford To Lose Its History?

📅 Events – A List of Events Happening Around Temiskaming Shores Area

🏪 Local Spotlight – Six Gardens. One Inspiring Day.

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Six gardens. Three communities. And one day to explore them all.

Northern Hospice Care has revealed the locations for its Sow Much Fun Garden Tour, giving ticket holders the chance to explore six unique gardens across Latchford, New Liskeard and Kerns Township on Sunday, July 19, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The self-guided tour includes stops at 66 Hillview Street and 46 Proulx Street in Latchford; 226 Rebecca Street, 158 Elm Street and The Greenhaus at 824309 Heroux Road in New Liskeard; and 499175 Wabi Pit Road in Kerns Township.

Each garden offers something different to discover, from beautiful blooms and landscaping ideas to inspiration you might want to bring back to your own backyard.

There's also a special opportunity at The Greenhaus from 10 to 11 a.m., where visitors can meet Simone Holzamer, ask gardening questions and get expert advice on plants, landscaping and garden design.

Tickets are $20 cash and can be purchased at Northern Drugs Cobalt Guardian in Cobalt, Smallman Northern Drugs in Haileybury, Northern Drugs in New Liskeard, and Dam Depot Convenience & Gas Station in Latchford.

Best of all, the day supports Northern Hospice Care's mission of bringing a future residential hospice to Temiskaming, making every garden visited part of something much bigger.

Grab a friend, pick up your tickets and spend a summer day discovering six beautiful local gardens while helping bring compassionate hospice care closer to home.

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How can Ontario's most historic town tear down the very history that makes it special?

That's the question being asked across Cobalt as the planned demolition of the Pan Silver Headframe, also known as the Willet Green Miller Memorial, sparks frustration, sadness, and debate throughout the community.

The structure stands on Silver Street across from the Cobalt Mining Museum and is Site 14 on the Heritage Silver Trail. But unlike some of the district's original mining landmarks, this particular headframe was moved there from North Cobalt.

The timber structure originally stood at the Harrison-Hibbert shaft, known historically as the "Mud Mine." After mining operations ended, it was donated to the Heritage Silver Trail Committee and relocated downtown in 1998, where volunteers rebuilt it as an outdoor exhibit and memorial to Ontario's first provincial geologist.

The base was later enclosed and became home to the Cobalt Historical Society, which is now facing a July 20 deadline to vacate the building ahead of the planned demolition.

For many residents, that's difficult to accept.

Cobalt's mining history isn't hidden behind museum walls. It's part of the town's skyline, its streets, its tourism industry, and its identity. The Cobalt Mining District was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2002, recognizing a mining boom that helped shape not only the community but Ontario itself.

But preserving that history comes with a difficult reality.

According to information surrounding the planned demolition, significant deterioration of the timber supports has raised concerns about the structural stability of the headframe and the possibility of it becoming a public safety risk. Its location beside Silver Street makes those concerns particularly serious.

Then comes the question of money.

Restoring aging industrial structures can be costly, an enormous challenge for a small municipality already responsible for roads, water systems, emergency services, and other essential infrastructure.

And that's where the debate becomes much more complicated than simply being for or against history.

At what point does an aging historic structure become too expensive or dangerous to preserve? And just as importantly, how much history can Cobalt afford to lose before it begins losing part of what makes the town unique?

The Pan Silver Headframe isn't the first piece of the area's mining heritage to face this fate. Other historic headframes have been dismantled or closed over the years because of structural deterioration, wood rot, and safety concerns.

But each loss makes the structures that remain even more important.

The controversy surrounding Site 14 raises a bigger question for Cobalt and the entire region: Were all reasonable alternatives explored before demolition became the Town's chosen course of action?

Perhaps preserving these landmarks requires more than expecting a small municipality to shoulder the entire burden. Regional partnerships, dedicated heritage funds, private investment, commercial reuse, and earlier intervention could all be part of the conversation.

For now, volunteers with the Cobalt Historical Society are working to move and protect the archival collections housed inside the building they have called home for more than two decades.

Whatever happens next, the debate over the Pan Silver Headframe has made one thing clear: people care deeply about Cobalt's history. The question now is whether there's still time to find another way before the planned demolition begins.

Have more to say? Reply to this email and share your thoughts. We may feature reader perspectives in a future edition of Tri Town Today.

Registration is now open for the 2026 Baby Contest, taking place Saturday, September 19 at 11:00 AM on the Entertainment Stage inside the Horne Granite Curling Club.

The contest is open to babies from newborn to 12 months old, born between September 1, 2025 and August 31, 2026. Registration is required by August 31, with prizes awarded at the end of the contest.

The University of Guelph's HEAR Initiative is inviting rural Ontario residents to take part in a major survey about health, housing, jobs, and how communities are adapting to environmental changes. The goal is to give rural communities better data to help inform future policy, planning, and funding decisions.

Residents who complete the survey can also enter for a chance to win an iPad.

The Classic Theatre Cobalt Mezzanine Gallery is showcasing Signs and Symbols From the Boreal, a collection of paintings by Sue Gamble, from July 4 to August 30. The exhibition is open Thursday through Friday from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM at the gallery, located at 30 Silver Street in Cobalt.

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