Province puts $9M toward canoe museum
Proposed new museum at the Lift Lock is also pre-qualified for $15M in federal funding
Peterborough MPP Jeff Leal has announced $9 million from the provincial government to help build the proposed new Canadian Canoe Museum next to the historic Peterborough Lift Lock.
Construction is expected to start on the new museum in 2018 and cost about $50 million.
Leal, the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, made the announcement by the Lift Lock on Friday morning. He said $3 million will be offered annually for the next three years, for a total of $9 million.
“This will be one of the great museums of Canada,” Leal said. “It will bring people from all corners of the world to come and visit the city and Peterborough County.”
About 30 people were at the announcement, including Curve Lake First Nation Chief Phyllis Williams, Mayor Daryl Bennett and Peterborough County Warden Joe Taylor.
John Ronson, chairman of the board for the Canadian Canoe Museum, thanked Leal.
“Wow, Minister – we could not be more delighted,” he said. “I really, truly believe this is a pivotal announcement.”
Meanwhile, the federal government has already announced funding of $1.4 million – money meant to help cover design costs, such as architects’ fees.
MP Maryam Monsef was not at the announcement on Friday; she was unwell. But she sent greetings in writing to the Lift Lock, saying she will continue to advocate for support from the feds.
There could be more federal money coming – perhaps as much as $15 million.
At the museum’s annual general meeting in April, Ronson said the museum has “pre-qualified” for an additional $15 million from Ottawa - provided they can raise matching funds from other sources (including the provincial government).
Ronson said city council will be asked for about $4 million and county council will be asked for $1 million.
That would leave about $20 million to collect from private donations (and also from the eventual sale of the museum’s current property on Monaghan Rd.).
On Friday, Bennett said there’s still “a long way to go” before the money is all raised.
He noted that the city has been a long-time supporter of the Canadian Canoe Museum (council has offered operational funding for years.)
But the museum hasn’t yet made a request for money of the city, and so council hasn’t made any funding decisions.
Taylor said the provincial funding should give the project much of the momentum it needs for success.
Museum officials haven’t made a pitch for county funding either, so county council hasn’t promised a donation.
The new Canadian Canoe Museum would be built next to the Lift Lock on land owned by Parks Canada. The groundbreaking is planned for the winter of 2018, and the museum should be open in the summer of 2021.
The Irish architectural firm Heneghan Peng was chosen to design the building, following an international competition. More than 90 architectural firms from around the world submitted concepts.
The chosen design calls for a onestorey, serpentine building with a massive rooftop garden.