Port Dover group plans new gate to spruce up pier entrance

A gate at the entrance to the Port Dover pier has caused quite the stir in the sleepy waterfront town.

There’s nothing with the gate, but residents argue that it was “too ugly” and “prison-like” for the beautiful pier, so they took it upon themselves to replace it.

The gate was put up across the Port Dover pier around a year ago for liability reasons.

“As soon as somebody goes out on the pier and falls when the weather’s bad, or if there’s ice on it, then they want to sue you,” said Rick Misner with the Port Dover Harbour Authority. “So you have to be able to have a gate that can close.”

While it appears to be a perfectly fine gate, Port Dover residents don’t like it.

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“There’s nothing wrong with it, in as much as it does its job, but the community did not think it looked nice enough,” said Misner.

“We took it upon ourselves,” said Keith Milner with the Port Dover Waterfront Preservation Association. “We want to, as a community, replace this with something that is more in tune with our harbourfront.”

That’s where local documentary filmmaker Daryl Granger comes in.

“In 2024, I shot a documentary called Netting the Waters, which is about all the commercial fishing on Lake Erie,” said Granger.

He’s been tasked with designing a new gate and he used what he learned shooting the documentary to come up with a new design.

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“It features nets with pickerel and perch,” said Granger. “It also has the Old Clipper, which is a fishing vessel that brings in the fish, and above that is seagulls signifying a great catch.”

“We want it to appear as a welcoming feature,” said Milner. “We want people to come here and get their picture taken in front of this gate.”

The new gate across the pier will cost between $10,000 and $15,000 and will be completely paid for by donations, and is expected to go up in the next few months.

Contributions can be done at the official website here.

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