Canoe museum will navigate these rough waters

The spectre of Peterborough’s often toxic industrial past has stalled or sidelined any number of new development projects, but none as big or as meaningful as the Canadian Canoe Museum.

Until this week, everything seemed in place for a spectacular new $65-million museum to rise up on the west bank of the Trent Canal over the next two years.

An environmental report on soil quality at the site killed that expectation. Seepage from the former Westclox factory just to the west, left behind toxic chemicals that require a long and costly cleanup.

The canoe museum’s board has decided it can’t wait. That would have been a difficult and painful decision.

The Parks Canada property is not only the best possible site in the city, it is nearly perfect. On the water, on the historic canal and adjacent to both the internationally recognized Lift Lock tourist attraction and Peterborough’s community museum.

Fundraising has been strong, with more than $45 million pledged, including key support from the federal government. The site and building design contributed to that success. Everything was in place for construction to begin this fall.

A cleanup process that could delay the project for years is no doubt the primary reason for abandoning the site, despite all the complications that decision brings. However, the potential for lingering public fears over the safety of strolling through a building sitting on once-tainted ground must also have been a factor.

In terms of the canoe museum’s future, the news is profoundly disappointing but not devastating.

The museum’s board and staff leadership have responded with optimistic, forward-looking resolve: A new site will be found and ground will be broken next fall as planned. That’s an intimidating prospect, but the right way to go.

And while there might be more rough water along the way this community, government funders and private donors need to continue supporting the project wholeheartedly.

One major potential snag is provincial and federal funding, which as always in the case of capital grants is tied to deadlines.

Ontario has promised $9 million and Ottawa $10 million. Peterborough recently experienced with its planned twin-pad arena what can happen when expected funding disappears. Both governments need to show flexibility and commit to their pledges over whatever timeline is necessary.

The canoe museum will need to be open and transparent about how it got so far along in the process without knowing its site was contaminated.

The explanation to date is that a professional consultant did soil testing before the Parks Canada site was chosen and cleared it as safe. Only when contaminants turned up on the former Westclox property itself did further testing ordered by the provincial Ministry of the Environment find evidence of trichloroethylene, and industrial solvent, and other chemicals.

The initial test results should be made public. With so much public money going into the project — including $4 million from the City of Peterborough — people need to be reassured the process was compete and professional.

This museum holds the finest, most extensive collection of canoes in the world. It began as one man’s passion in a storage shed on a remote Ontario lake.

The museum’s leadership has shown incredible drive, tenacity and ability in getting the project to this point. Those same qualities will get them past this setback.