City commitment pleases museum
Canadian Canoe Museum promising ‘a tourist attraction like no other’
Officials from the Canadian Canoe Museum have thanked city council after it voted Monday night to give $4 million toward construction of a new facility rather than $2 million, as councillors originally planned.
At City Hall, councillors heard from a half-dozen citizens – including museum board of directors chairman John Ronson – about why the museum needs $4 million from the city to help build its $65-million facility.
Council was persuaded: councillors reversed course and voted to pay $4 million over eight years, starting in 2019. Council also voted not to increase the museum’s operational grants over those years.
Ronson and Carolyn Hyslop, the general manager of the museum, were at City Hall on Monday – and on Tuesday, they submitted a letter of thanks to council stating that they are “very pleased” with the $4-million commitment.
“On behalf of The Canadian Canoe Museum family, we thank council for this complete commitment - it is indeed fundamental to the future of the new museum,” the letter states.
In late November, during 2018 budget talks, councillors voted to give $2 million to the museum rather than the $4 million requested.
But the budget needed to be adopted Monday night with a final vote – and council changed its mind then.
The Canadian Canoe Museum is planning a new $65-million facility next to the Peterborough Lift Lock. For 20 years, it has been located in a former factory on Monaghan Rd.
The new museum is expected to be an architectural landmark: the design, from Irish firm Heneghan Peng, was selected after a global competition.
The design calls for a serpentine building with a massive rooftop garden. The interior is expected to have an event space large enough to seat 400 people for a meal.
Government funding hasn’t all been announced for the project yet.
The museum has already received $1.4 million from the federal government and Ronson told councillors on Monday that the project is “at the front of the line” for a further $13.6 million in federal funding.
Meanwhile the province has promised $9 million.
There’s also expected to be a nationwide fundraising campaign to collect private donations. Ronson told council on Monday the museum is close to having a lead donor. He said it was a well-known Canadian family, but he didn’t mention any names.
“Once complete, the new museum will be a tourist attraction like no other - a premier destination at the Lift Lock on the Trent-Severn Waterway and it is estimated that visitors will spend an estimated $5.6 million every year in the city,” states the letter.
Construction on the Canadian Canoe Museum is expected to begin in about a year. The new museum isn’t expected to open until 2021.