Just hours before Peterborough city council is set to consider a staff report on a proposed $170-million multi-use sport and event centre in downtown Peterborough, Mayor Jeff Leal held a media conference to advocate for the project.
On Monday morning (May 4) at the office of the Peterborough and Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce, the mayor was joined by Chamber president and CEO Brenda Whitehead, Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA) board chair Deanna Guttman, and Paul Harris-Lowe of RBC Dominion Securities, who is a member of the city’s economic development working group.
Alongside a sign reading “Vision 2096” and renderings of event centres in Sudbury and Brantford, Leal said the city needs the event centre to replace the aging Peterborough Memorial Centre.
A statement from the mayor’s office notes the Peterborough Memorial Centre “is already unable to host modern events and that capability will continue to deteriorate as it ages.” City staff have estimated it would cost $22.4 million over the next 15 years to keep the 70-year-old city-owned facility operational.
“We need to think about the next 70 years of Peterborough,” Leal said. “This is a generational opportunity for our community.”
“A new event centre will revitalize our downtown by driving foot traffic and encouraging investment. It will transform our waterfront and stimulate economic growth and development, and it will make Peterborough a regional hub and tourism destination for the next 70 years.”
Leal referred to the new $45-million Canadian Canoe Museum, which was funded through a combination of public and private sources, as an example of how an event centre can draw visitors to the city. The museum saw more than 115,000 visitors in 2025, with more than two thirds coming from outside the region, generating an estimated $10.5 million in visitor spending and contributing almost $7 million to regional GDP, based on the Tourism Regional Economic Impact Model.
The Chamber and DBIA are also supporting the project, with Whitehead calling it an “economic opportunity.”
“Aging infrastructure limits our ability to attract major events and stay competitive,” she said. “A modern event centre strengthens Peterborough’s role as a regional hub while driving the kind of downtown activity that supports businesses across the entire region, and promotes opportunities for growth and further community development.”
For her part, Guttman said the event centre would be an investment in the future of the downtown.
“Facilities like this bring consistent energy, attract visitors, and create the conditions for local businesses to grow and thrive,” she said. “The DBIA strongly supports moving this project forward as a catalyst for long-term economic development and vibrancy in Peterborough’s core.”
Paul Harris-Lowe said a new event centre would bring businesses and their employees to Peterborough.
“A city which has the ability to provide activities in both the arts and in sports is a city business leaders are attracted to,” he said. “An event centre that Peterborough can be proud of will go a long way to attracting new business to Peterborough and making our city the hub for central-East Ontario.”
What is still unknown is how the city would pay for a new event centre.
At its general committee meeting on Monday evening, city council will consider a staff report from community services commission Sheldon Laidmen with six options for next steps for the approval and construction of the event centre, including how it could be financed by the city.
With a council-approved location at the site of the existing city bus garage on Townsend Street, the event centre is proposed as a 155,000-square-foot building seating 5,800 people with an estimated construction cost of $170 million — representing one of the largest single capital investments in the city’s history.
The six options to be presented to general committee on Monday night include:
- Approving $1.7 million in funding so the project can proceed to a concept and site development phase, without committing to full financing for the project.
- Approving $30 million in debt financing (the city’s existing debt limit) while seeking partnerships with the private sector for the remaining funding.
- Approving $57 million in debt financing by increasing the city’s debt limit while seeking remaining funding from other levels of government.
- Approving $170 million for the entire project through a combination of $70 million in debt financing by increasing the city’s debt limit and $100 million in funding through the sale of city assets.
- Approving $170 million for the entire project through debt financing by increasing the city’s debt limit.
- Not proceeding any further with the project.
Debt financing options would result in property tax increases ranging from one to five per cent while also affecting the city’s ability to finance other capital projects.
The staff report also acknowledges that the actual construction cost for a new event centre may exceed $170 million.
“Large-scale recreation and entertainment facilities have historically experienced construction cost escalation during the design and procurement phases,” the report reads.
The staff report assumes the timeline for the project would be 2027 to 2031, which would place the project in the term of the next city council elected in October.
