Construction on the new Canadian Canoe Museum on the shore of Little Lake in Peterborough will begin in October, officials announced Wednesday.
Last week, the museum completed its $1.575-million purchase of five acres of city land at Johnson Park at 2077 Ashburnham Dr. The land is situated on the east shore of Little Lake, just north of Beavermead Park near the Trent-Severn Waterway headquarters.
The museum will sell its current property at 910 Monaghan Rd. to help fund the $40-million fundraising campaign for the new museum. Executive director Carolyn Hyslop says fundraising is at 82 per cent of the $40-million goal.
The sale was subject to a number of conditions such as rezoning and site appropriateness. Hyslop says the next step is continued design and then construction of the museum, which is slated to be completed by 2023.
On Monday, the museum signed a contract with Chandos Construction Ltd. and Lett Architects Inc., valued at $27,363,383, to commence design services and construction work.
“(The) Canadian Canoe Museum is thrilled to have completed these critical milestones so that we may commence with construction as planned in October,” said Hyslop. “Our project team is working at lightning speed to stay on schedule so that we may be ready to open the new museum in 2023.”
- Suspect in killing of temple leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar got student visa in ‘days’
- ‘Summer of discontent’ coming over public service in-office order: unions
- Panera to remove ‘Charged Sips’ drink from Canada amid wrongful death lawsuits
- Minister Boissonnault to testify before ethics committee over ties to lobbyist, PPE company
Lett Architects Ltd. designs of the museum exterior and interior:
The museum initially wanted to build the new museum adjacent to the Peterborough Lift Lock in East City, however, an environmental study revealed on-site soil contamination and the plans were scrapped in October 2020. Johnson Park was quickly identified as a new potential site.
“I am pleased to see the completion of this transaction for the property that will be the future home of The Canadian Canoe Museum,” said city councillor Gary Baldwin, the city’s representative on the museum’s board. “I am very much looking forward to the building of this exciting project in Peterborough’s Ashburnham Ward.”
The current museum on Monaghan Road is a former factory but space is limited to showcase the more than 600 watercraft and thousands of artifacts. Hyslop says the new museum will provide ample space and also offer on-water and in-person programming while being a “key cultural tourism driver” on the waterfront.
The new canoe museum will be built on a flat portion of the property, away from the floodplain, on the open land along Ashburnham Drive so as to preserve the existing trail, shoreline and natural waterfront.
Comments