Five designs for new canoe museum

Public meeting being held Wednesday to unveil proposed designs from five world-class architects

The Canadian Canoe Museum is holding a public meeting Wednesday to unveil the five proposed designs for the new building.

“It’s a Dragons’ Den for architects,” said Richard Tucker, executive director of the museum.

A new facility is planned for the property next to the Peterborough Lift Lock, with construction expected to begin in 2017.

At the meeting, five architectural firms will each have 15 minutes to present their designs. They will also each get five minutes for questions from the floor.

At the end, people will get a chance to mingle and ask more questions of the architects oneon-one. Everyone who registers on the way into the meeting will get a token to vote for their favourite design.

Tucker said the public will also get a chance to ask questions and weigh in online when they visit the museum’s website.

The idea is to offer as much public feedback as possible to the board of directors as they make the final choice. Tucker expects a design to be selected by Christmas.

He also said the budget for the building is between $24 million and $28 million. A fundraising campaign is expected to begin once the design has been chosen.

Meanwhile Tucker has seen the proposals and he says they range in style from classical to modern.

“There’s definitely a variety of schemes on the table,” he said. “I personally like all of them. Any one of them would be an outstanding building for Peterborough.”

Last spring, the museum chose six finalists from 90 architectural firms that were interested in designing the new building.

One firm, Patkau Architects of Vancouver, withdrew from the competition this summer. The firm would not comment on why a design wasn’t submitted.

Tucker said Patkau is an “excellent firm”, albeit a small one.

“The honorarium wasn’t huge, to be honest,” he said. “It (the competition) was a huge commitment for them.”

Tucker hopes the building will eventually be a landmark for people who love history and as well as for those who appreciate good architecture.

“It’s not just for canoe or Canadiana lovers - it’s for architecture

lovers, too.”