The current Town of Lasalle was originally incorporated as the Township of Sandwich West in 1861. A portion of the township incorporated as the Town of Lasalle in 1924, but was dissolved in 1959 and rejoined Sandwich West. In 1991, the Township changed its status to that of a Town and was renamed Lasalle. It is the second most populous municipality within Essex County after the Municipality of Lakeshore. The town's land area includes Fighting Island in the Detroit River at its western side. Fighting Island is privately owned by BASF, the world's largest chemical company.
Town features
One of LaSalle's biggest events is the annual Strawberry Festival[3] which takes place on the first weekend in June. The annual LaSalle Craft Beer Festival, put on by the Corporation of the Town of LaSalle, is another annual event that features different types of beer, from popular brands to smaller microbreweries.[4]
In LaSalle, there are two secondary schools: Sandwich Secondary School and St. Thomas of Villanova Catholic Secondary School. Elementary schools include Sacred Heart Elementary School, Legacy Oak Trail Public School, LaSalle Public School, Sandwich West Public School, École Monseigneur Augustin Caron, and Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School.
LaSalle also has a bicycle trail network called the LaSalle Trail, which links up to neighbouring Windsor Trail network, allowing people to ride from Sandwich Secondary School to Windsor's Riverfront Trail. The town has expressed intention to connect LaSalle (and indirectly, Windsor) to the Chrysler Canada Greenway by constructing a link to the Trans Canada Trail near Oldcastle.[citation needed]
LaSalle's Brunet Park has a 2.6 km loop trail, and is generally considered an easy route which takes an average of 28 minutes to complete. With 40 km of paved trails in LaSalle, you can walk, jog or ride your bicycle throughout the town. There are 16 signs along the trails, with facts about LaSalle, Ontario and/or Canada.[5]
The town also features the Vollmer Culture and Recreation Complex, home to the LaSalle Vipers, of the GOJHL and the LaSalle Sabres, of the OMHA. It is also home to the LaSalle Stompers, of the Ontario Soccer Association. The complex has multiple rooms for hosting of events, 2 arenas, an Olympic-sized pool and slide, outdoor skate park, splash pad, soccer fields, and baseball diamonds.
LaSalle Landing
LaSalle is currently revitalizing their waterfront with an initiative called the LaSalle Landing. This project will include an event centre, a retention pond, sport zone, water fountain, skate trail, boat launch and multiple new bridges.[6] This project is projected to cost 48.5 million dollars.[7] LaSalle will be using $4 500 000 from the Federal Gas Tax and $500 000 from the Pedestrian Safety Reserve to help pay for the project. LaSalle has taken on $12 000 000 of debt after being denied a grant through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program.[8]
Communities
Besides the urban area proper of LaSalle itself, the town of LaSalle comprises a number of villages and hamlets, including Delisle's Corners, Heritage Estates, Lukerville, Oliver and River Canard.
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, LaSalle had a population of 32,721 living in 11,644 of its 11,922 total private dwellings, a change of 8.4% from its 2016 population of 30,180. With a land area of 64.96 km2 (25.08 sq mi), it had a population density of 503.7/km2 (1,304.6/sq mi) in 2021.[10]
