Drop plan for Trent twin-pad arena, focus on Morrow Park site
Morrow Park, of the six sites the consultant group Sierra Planning and Management recommended to city council for the new entertainment facility and arena complex, is definitely the most logical and shovel-ready.
The two proposed city-centre sites, the public works yard on Townsend Street and the No Frills lot at Sherbrooke and George streets, would obviously be better to enhance our downtown but both have limited space and other issues that make them less viable. The CGE site, Canadian Canoe Museum lot and James Stevenson Park are non-starters.
In the last few years OHL cities Oshawa, Kingston and London all moved their major arenas to the downtown when they replaced older facilities further out. Sault Ste. Marie, St. Catharines (Niagara) and Guelph replaced their downtown rinks with new nearby complexes. Reports say all the communities are happy with the way the buildings revitalized the city centres.
Unfortunately, Peterborough does not have a city-centre site that gives a large enough and viable footprint to build an entertainment centre we require. Only Oshawa, of the six, was able to add a second ice surface, a minimum requirement for the new Peterborough building.
Suggestions to purchase and demolish the Market Plaza and combine it with the public works site may be the only possibility to have a downtown entertainment centre but it would drastically increase the cost and timeframe of the project. The Memorial Centre planners rejected the site in 1950 because of the need for deeper footings as it is reclaimed land.
Also missing from the consultants’ presentation to council was specific mention of the position of the Peterborough and District Sports Hall of Fame in any new entertainment centre. Currently attached to the main lobby of the Memorial Centre, this completely volunteer-run 4,600square-foot facility is one of the city’s most popular and well-attended museums and display centres. Secondly, it was originally constructed and completely financed through fundraising by the city’s sporting community.
A question from a councillor to the consultant about the Sports Hall was dismissed with a comment that display cases could be scattered about any new building. That is a definite no-go for the sporting community and must be for council.
A standalone hall, comparable in floor space of the current one, attached to the main lobby of the new entertainment facility, should be a part of the new complex. Anything less is a step back for our great sporting legacy.
The recommended positioning along Roger Neilson Way of the new facility in Morrow Park best utilizes the underused area yet maintains plenty of open space for occasional uses like the exhibition, market and similar events.
Cancelling the Trent twin pad should be the first step in building the new entertainment centre. With the loss of the $18 million grant, the $54 million Trent project, with its environmental and traffic problems, is no longer possible.
Back in 2014 when the twin pad was proposed by city staff, Sport Kawartha gave a well documented and thought-out proposal for building the twin pad in Morrow Park with provisions to add an entertainment centre later. That was summarily shot down by city staff and the council of the day.
Now what goes around comes around. Design plans for a Morrow Park facility should include the entertainment centre, the Hall of Fame and two extra ice pads. Construction could begin on the two extra pads immediately. The other sections would be added later.
Also, when the current Memorial Centre is reconfigured, the planned swimming pool for the Trent twin pad could be part of it.
Our new city council will have a number of decisions to make in its upcoming fouryear term that will have major ramifications for a number of sports and their venues in the city for generations.
On Monday it is imperative voters do their homework and ensure they elect those who they feel can best take us forward.