Agricultural Society to get $525K from city over seven years

A new agreement between the city and the Peterborough Agricultural Society that will shape a redevelopment of Morrow Park took another step forward on Monday night.

City councillors voted to enter into a new agreement with the Ag Society that would end years of difficult negotiations.

Under the seven-year agreement, the city would redevelop the park with the Ag Society and the Peterborough Exhibition in mind.

There will be new horse barns built to replace the old ones, for example, as well as a new office building for the Ag Society with public washrooms for the Peterborough Exhibition (as well as for other events held in the park).

The Ag Society can also expect more funding from the city to keep the Ex going: They would receive a total of $525,000, over the seven years. (It would be $75,000 a year in Service Grants, as opposed to the current city grant of $50,000.)

Ken Doherty, the city’s community services director, said the city and Ag Society have been negotiating for years. Now they have a prospective deal to continue redeveloping the park.

“I am pleased to report that finally, at long last, we are here to present an agreement for your consideration,” Doherty told councillors.

Yet the redesign of Morrow Park isn’t going to be complete until a year from now.

Doherty said a study into the possibility of building “a major sport and entertainment facility” to serve much the same function as the Memorial Centre is starting in June. The study is expected to take a year to complete.

It will determine whether the city needs a new arena – for OHL games and for other uses, too – and if so, where.

The study is also expected to recommend what to do with the Memorial Centre, Doherty said – it could be reused or demolished, for example.

But at least one councillor wasn’t happy with the idea of building Morrow Park with the Peterborough Exhibition in mind when the Ex hasn’t been a moneymaker in years.

Coun. Keith Riel asked whether the Ex made money last year, and Doherty told him it did not break even – although it did better in 2016 than in years past.

Riel said he wasn’t comfortable spending money on buildings for the Ag Society to use when the Ex is not even making money.

“Where’s the cutoff? When will the Ex be viable?” he asked. “If you’re in business, at one point you cut bait and say, ‘This isn’t viable.’”

Coun. Dan McWilliams wasn’t really happy with the plan either. He wanted to see some “creativity” in the reimagining of the park and the Ex – but he wasn’t seeing that.

“I see no creativity, here,” he said. “I see a couple of new horse barns. And some washrooms.”

But Mayor Daryl Bennett said he sees the agreement as a way that council can keep the region’s rich agricultural tradition alive for generations to come.

He saw the investment of more than half a million dollars as “a great investment.”

“There’s lots of things that could be seen as negative in this process, but this is very positive – and will bring great benefits in the long term.”