Downtown arena concept praised
Petes, Lakers, DBIA all favour Market Plaza, former public works yard as site for new arena and event complex
A downtown sports and entertainment complex is key to revitalizing the city’s core and rebounding from the economic impact of COVID-19.
That’s the opinion of three community groups represented on a steering committee to help identify a location for a Memorial Centre replacement.
The Peterborough Petes, Lakers and Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA) all prefer a site combining the Market Plaza and old public works property on Townsend Street.
While it may cost more to purchase the land, clean up contaminants and buy out businesses there, the group feels there is a business case to be made that it’s the perfect location.
On Monday, city council will discuss a report by Sierra Planning and Management that recommends the site above three others — Morrow Park, an area on George Street across from No Frills and the former Baskin-Robbins site.
City staff recommends a proposed twin-pad arena be relocated to Morrow Park rather than Fleming College.
DBIA chair Paul Bennett praised the report as the visionary thinking the city needs.
“With all that’s gone on in the last year, it’s the type of longterm visionary thinking we need both for a downtown entertainment and cultural hub and a recreational hub we could build at Morrow Park.”
Tim Barrie, representing the junior and senior Lakers, said it’s taken a long time for users to convince city staff this is the right vision.
“Maybe they’ve come to the appreciation this is not just about an arena or even an events centre,” Barrie said.
“The dollars involved are sig
nificant enough that as a city we need to get a whole lot more out of this than just another ice surface and concert venue. It has to drive economic development and ideally rejuvenate the downtown.”
Petes vice-president Dave Lorentz said Kingston and Oshawa rejuvenated their downtowns with new facilities while Barrie said Brampton and Mississauga regret building on the city’s edge.
“It has to be more than just a sports centre,” said Lorentz.
All three agreed the Market Plaza and public works property is ideal not just for the arena complex but to spark development around it.
“It’s such a gem right next to the lake,” Barrie said. “If you have space, people will build on it whether it be the canoe museum, art gallery, more entertainment facilities, restaurants, hotels.”
The other sites won’t attract the foot traffic that will benefit local businesses, Lorentz said.
“You have the marina, Little Lake and the concert venue in the summer time,” said Lorentz. “It’s just a natural fit. You don’t want this sitting isolated somewhere where you drive there in your car and you drive out of it. You want to entice people to go to restaurants ahead of time and afterwards.
“Just the perception of your city of having everything there for people who come from out
of town to see is a huge benefit to the city for tourism.”
City councillors might balk at the added costs of acquiring and cleaning up the land but Bennett said that’s short-term thinking.
“Our city has to get away from the idea of spending money and get into the idea of investing money,” Bennett said.
“The idea of building a standalone site at Morrow Park is spending money. There is no
economic spinoff from doing that. If you put a site downtown you’re investing in downtown. The development — via hotel, condo, residential, commercial — will increase the assessment value downtown that can increase the tax amount the city takes in each year. That’s the only way a facility like this will ever get built; if it’s viewed as a business investment for the city.”
Making it the centrepiece of
economic development also increases the odds of qualifying for provincial and federal infrastructure funding sure to come in a COVID-19 recovery plan, Bennett said.
That’s why it’s important to move the project along to a shovel-ready stage so those opportunities aren’t lost.
“This is not all going to be built at once,” Barrie said.
“All the peripheral development is going to come over the years.”
They support relocating the twin-pad to Morrow Park.
“This goes back several years to when Sport Kawartha presented to city council,” Barrie said.
“We always thought Morrow Park was the best place to put it. The DBIA presented a vision last year for Morrow Park, which included four pads, a swimming pool, the PMC converted to a field house. This would be over a long period of time. At least, if we started with a twin-pad there, we have the ability to build a complex not unlike Whitby or Oshawa who have the complexes we all wish we could have.”
“It would be a driver for tournaments and tourism,” Bennett said. “It’s a really smart longterm vision so we’re not looking every three to five years for a new spot for a pad or a pool or gymnastics building.”