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Crumbling Pointe-du-Chê​ne wharf gets a financial boost

The Pointe-du-Chê​ne wharf is getting a $3.6 million facelift.

At a news conference at the wharf Tuesday, the federal and provincial governments announced they would be spend some money to make urgent repairs to the crumbling structure.

Each level of government will spend nearly $1.8 million each. Combined with money from the Pointe-du-Chê​ne Harbour Authority, there will be $3.6 million for the upgrade.

Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc came to his hometown on the Northumberland Strait to make the announcement on behalf of the federal government.

"This really is a tourist infrastructure that's critical to the local economy," said LeBlanc, the MP for Beausé​jour. "And for many years, this community has believed in investing in tourism infrastructure. Over a million tourists annually visit this region."

Victor Boudreau, the MLA for Shediac-Beaubassin-Cap-Pelé, spoke for the province, saying he spent part of his youth in the Pointe-du-Chê​ne area, starting at the age of 14. He said the wharf holds a special place in his heart and is features in the rite of passage for all locals.

"So it's a question of making sure that the infrastructure, whether it be the various faces, the slip, that they all get upgraded so that we can all continue to enjoy the Pointe-du-Chê​ne ​wharf for many, many years to come," Boudreau said.

The wharf is home to a few restaurants, gifts shops and a boat club and the starting point for some boat tours. It's also close to Parlee Beach, a major tourist attraction in the province.

"It is a very important piece of infrastructure, of tourism infrastructure, of cultural infrastructure and just a great place to come socialize."

The project includes an environment assessment, repairs to the existing front concrete wall, reconstruction of the existing boat slipways, the inner harbour and south walls, as well as the restoration of the south shoreline behind the wharf's bait sheds.

LeBlanc and Boudreau did not say when the project would be done, but an accompanying news released expressed the hope it will be be finished by 2025.