Construction on new Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough to begin in October

Construction on the new Canadian Canoe Museum on the shore of Little Lake in Peterborough will begin in October, officials announced Wednesday.

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.”

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.