Horseshoes club wants to keep its home
Uncertainty after Peterborough Naval Association sells property to city, but mayor says there are no plans to do anything to the area where the gaming pits are located
The Peterborough Horseshoe Club faces some uncertainty after the Peterborough Naval Association announced Wednesday it is disbanding.
The horseshoe club, formed in 1973, has played on 20 lighted pits on Naval Association property on Whitla Street for more than 30 years.
The club, which is the largest in Canada with 260 members, has an agreement with the association to use the property until 2023. That date coincided with a deal the association struck in ’13 to sell the property to the City of Peterborough with a closing date of ’23.
With its disbanding, the association has requested the city move up that closing date, which city council will have to approve.
It’s the desire of the horseshoe club to remain at that property for years to come but president Steve Kendall said he is not sure how this announcement will impact it.
“We have no idea because we haven’t been in contact with anyone from the city, yet,” Kendall said. “Our pits are supposed to stay there until 2023 but I don’t know what to say until I talk to someone.”
The club has paid $7 per member annually to use the property and adjacent clubhouse on days it uses the pits. The rental fee was increased to $20 per member this year as the Peterborough Naval Association attempted to increase revenues.
The horseshoe club has cancelled its 2020 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It normally runs a Monday night mixed league, Tuesday night men’s league, a Wednesday afternoon seniors league and Thursday night women’s league. It also hosts numerous weekend tournaments throughout the summer.
Kendall said the clubhouse, particularly its washrooms, are an important part of the club’s usage of the property. The club has invested significant money over the years to build and maintain the pits and install light standards and a scoreboard. There are also two storage sheds on the property.
“I don’t know what they’re going to do with the building,” Kendall said. “My personal opinion is I’d love to see the Legion go in there.”
Kendall said the 2013 agreement states the city would help relocate the horseshoe club if it decided to use the property for something else.
“They would have to pay for it as far as I’m concerned,” he said.
Once people are allowed to return to play, Kendall wants to make sure there is access to the clubhouse.
“Now that we know the naval association is closing we have to find someone from the city to negotiate and find out what they’re going to do with us,” he said.
Mayor Diane Therrien said the city has long-term plans to develop a trail system along the shores of Little Lake extending from Beavermead Park but those plans anticipated a closing date of 2023.
“There are no plans at this time for the area where the horseshoe pits are located,”
Therrien said.
“We will be working with them going forward as the potential use might change but there is nothing imminent and we will be sure to be working with them very closely.”
She notes there are nearly seven acres (about three hectares) of land there and says no concrete plans for the property have ever been finalized.
“We don’t have a solid plan of what to do with the property and any plan would also require money,” she said. “The extension of the trail around Little Lake, which is part of why that property is really valuable to us, has been talked about for a long time and is still a ways off because of budgetary concerns. I can’t see that there is any imminent changes to the structure of that land.”
Dan Ayotte, interim president of the naval association, said the horseshoe club’s fate is in the city’s hands.