Keep Morrow Park for agriculture

RE: DROP PLAN FOR TRENT TWIN-PAD ARENA, FOCUS ON MORROW PARK SITE, DON BARRIE, OCT. 20

I am frightened by Don Barrie's column on the location of a new home for the Petes and a larger entertainment venue. For certain the Petes are an important part of our culture. Losing the Petes to a another community that is prepared to build a suitable facility would be like losing a child ..that's unthinkable. However sports are a part of our culture, and culture is only one of life's essentials which also include food and water, energy and wellness.

As a hockey fan from a way back, what frightens me is the ability of the sports community, in this case led by Don Barrie, to get way out front of the community at large, lobby local governments with their narrow requirements, and not give due consideration to the other factors that need to be considered..

Let me give you an example with respect to the Morrow Park site. Its first priority usage has to be to the Ag Society; and by extension hopefully that will include a local food hub and storage to enhance community-wide food security, and a permanent indoor/outdoor farmers' market co-op.

In addition, the site needs to include the repurposed Memorial Centre, a car parking garage, an electric street car garage, storage and turn-around for future transportation requirements and likely a permanent grandstand.

The whole complex needs to be supported by locally generated power. The rest of the space best be saved as greenspace ... the community desperately needs it.

As for a new home for the Petes ... it needs to be located in the downtown area to revitalize the downtown and help drive the entire community into a more prosperous, resilient and sustainable future. Fred Irwin, Douro-Dummer