Whatever our differences, there are two things — live music and sports fandom — that more often than not bring us together for a shared experience.
The latter did the trick Friday night (May 19) at the Quaker Foods City Square in downtown Peterborough as some 400 people gathered to take in game five of the best-of-seven Ontario Hockey League championship final between the hometown Peterborough Petes and the London Knights, livestreamed from Budweiser Gardens in London.
Before a 16-foot video wall provided by Porter Sound, Petes fans of all ages gathered, many perched in lawn chairs with extra blankets and travel mugs. Despite a light rain that began to fall with under 10 minutes left in the third period, most stayed put to watch the Petes fall to the Knights by a score of 4-1.
With the loss, the Petes still lead the series 3-2 with game six scheduled for this Sunday night (May 21) at the Peterborough Memorial Centre. Game seven, if needed, will be played the following night in London (another community watch party will take place if the Knights force a game seven).
While Friday night’s game was the main attraction, what also impressed those who spoke with kawarthaNOW, one of the event’s media sponsors, was the use of the downtown public space for a unique community experience.
“This is perfect — this is exactly what this space is intended for,” raved Sean McCarthy, a diehard Petes fan who has missed but a few home games during the club’s remarkable playoff run.
“I’ve been to Buffalo Bills tailgate parties … that’s what this reminds me of,” McCarthy added. “It’s exactly what Peterborough needs right now. What’s great is when you look around at this crowd, you see people from all walks of life. All ages — kids, adults, whatever. They’ve all been brought together and united by this fabulous playoff run.”
Sharing the watch party experience were Melanie Clapper and Kevin Holland. They arrived at the square at 1:30 p.m. — six hours before puck drop.
“We’re big fans … we go to every Petes game,” said Clapper.
“I didn’t really expect them to beat Ottawa (in an earlier playoff series) but I’ll take it,” added Holland.
Clapper was impressed by the watch party set up, saying that “more things like this” would represent a good use of the public space.
Also taking in the experience was Ashley Woollacott of Ennismore, joined by her kids and their friends. She too liked what she saw and heard.
“I think it’s amazing,” Woollacott said. “We need to bring the community together and liven up downtown. Sport is one of many things that brings people together.”
Arguably the biggest smile seen was worn by Hillary Flood, vibrancy manager for the Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Association (DBIA). In partnership with the City of Peterborough and the Peterborough Petes, the DBIA conceived of, and organized, the watch party in just a few days.
“This started as an idea on Monday and from that idea, through the woodwork, the community came together to make it happen,” said Flood. “The Quaker Foods City Square is a space for gathering; a space for community. When this idea came across our desk, we jumped on it. We couldn’t see a celebration not happening for our Petes.”
With the name of the DBIA game being to bring foot traffic to the downtown core, Flood says the square, and events held there, check that box in a big way.
“This is re-introduction to our downtown core in a whole new way. When we think about a community watch party, it’s a perfect example of a positive intervention — a place-making intervention that transforms what would otherwise have been an empty space into a space for community gathering.”
Key to the event’s success, and its viability from a cost perspective, was the involvement of Porter Sound, which provided the 16-foot high-definition video wall on which the game was livestreamed from the TSN feed.
“It’s something that was never available in this area — if you wanted the technology you would have to pay major money to bring it in from a major city,” said Bill Porter.
“What a great way to display this new technology that’s here, teaming up with the DBIA and the city to show the Petes in the playoffs. We’re really excited to be able to come here to the square. We hope we can do a lot more with the city and the DBIA.”
Completed in fall of last year at the site of the former Louis Street parking lot, the Quaker Foods City Square hosted ice skating throughout the winter season and recently became the new home of the Peterborough Regional Farmers’ Market that will operate every Wednesday and Saturday until October 28th.
Consultation, planning and design work for the $6.4-million project began in late 2016 but construction didn’t start until early in 2021.
Key funders of the project included the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) which provided $750,000, the City of Peterborough which contributed $677,909, and the DBIA with a $50,000 donation.
Last September, Peterborough city council approved a naming rights agreement with PepsiCo Foods which, through its Quaker brand, will pay $240,000 over 15 years for the city square’s name.
