New plan would shift twin-pad arena to Fleming College
A planned new twin-pad arena and pool complex may not be built on campus at Trent University after all: city staff is now proposing a simple twin-pad at Fleming College instead, so as not to impinge on the wetlands at Trent.
Meanwhile the pool isn’t recommended, at least not in the first phases of construction, because it would put the cost well above $50 million, which is the limit for eligibility for a new federal/provincial funding program.
At a meeting at city hall on Tuesday, councillors will consider the new plans as recommended in a new city staff report.
The change of venue is proposed because the wetland on the property on Pioneer Road at Trent University has recently been designated provincially significant, states the report.
Based on that new designation, Indigenous groups strongly object to the arena plan, so city staff is proposing Fleming College.
Fleming had been the previous city council’s second choice, when the location was selected by the previous city council in 2015.
The removal of the pool comes because it would make the project too pricey for application to the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program.
Under the program, the city could share the cost of building the arena with the feds and the province — but only up to a total cost of $50 million.
That sum — $50 million — is what it would cost the city to build the twin-pad without the pool. That’s in addition to $3.5 million already spent on consulting and design.
The report states that “most of” that design and consulting work would be “transferable” to the new site, although the city would need to pay about $60,000 in fees for a cost analysis and for help to complete the funding application.
Council must commit soon: the deadline for the funding application is Nov. 12.
The change of plans is coming after years of environmentalists objecting to development on the wetlands at Trent.
Indigenous groups and Trent University students have fre
quently demonstrated or spoken to council out of concern for the wetlands; the latest demonstration on campus was on Saturday.
No one from the group Trent Students for Responsible Development could be reached for comment late on Thursday. But Coun. Andrew Beamer said it’s “disappointing and frustrating” that the city should consider an about-face after spending five years and $3.5 million planning an arena for the north-east end of Peterborough.
The Fleming location is wrong, Beamer said: “With all the growth in the north and east ends of the city, we need community facilities in those areas.”
The new twin-pad was originally meant as a replacement for Northcrest Arena on Marina Boulevard and Water Street, which was built in 1967 and designed to serve no more than 20 years.
But after local swimmers lobbied, council added to the plans a pool designed to fulfil the standards for regional or provincial swim meets.
Next came the funding announcement: just prior to the election in 2017, the previous Ontario government under the Liberals promised $18 million for the project.
But then later, when the Progressive Conservative government was elected in Ontario, it was announced the funding was never available and wasn’t coming; the city would have to apply under new programs.
With no funding in the bank, council put off construction from 2019 until 2020.
The new city staff report points out that the site offered at Fleming College is 13 acres, compared to 22 acres at Trent.
But 13 acres is still big enough to fit a twin-pad and later a pool, and potentially a third ice pad if council wanted to expand the building in the future.
The site selection conducted by the previous council in 2015 had been lengthy, and considered sites at Trent, Fleming and Morrow Park.
Councillors at the time preferred the Trent site because the university would provide the site for free and offered to contribute $2 million for servicing to the site, which is a former farm property.
While Trent University and Fleming College have added artificial turf fields and athletic complexes in recent years, neither have ice arenas.