Multi-Sport Stadium Opportunity

Consultation has concluded. Thank you for your participation and input in this project.

• Project background

  The City was approached by Victory Grounds Ventures (VGV) with interest in establishing a multi-sports stadium at the Kingston Memorial Centre. The stadium would support bringing a Canadian Premier League (CPL) soccer team and two semi-professional (League1) soccer teams to Kingston. The stadium would be a modular construction that is domed in the winter and would not only be used by these professional and semi-professional soccer teams but would also be available year-round for community user groups and sports organizations. On Jan. 14, 2025, Council directed staff to move forward on exploring the feasibility of VGV’s stadium proposal. This process will include an assessment of project feasibility and associated due diligence as well as consultation and discussion with community user groups, nearest neighbours and the broader community.

  Why was the Memorial Centre identified as the location?

  The Memorial Centre site was identified by the proponents as a location of primary interest because of its location within the core of the City, its walkability and access to transit and its existing recreational and sport use. VGV has asked the City to enter into a long-term lease for a portion of the existing green/field space at the Memorial Centre site to establish this stadium.

  Why are we doing this work?

  On January 14, 2025, Council directed staff to move forward on exploring the feasibility of VGV’s stadium proposal. This process will include an assessment of project feasibility and associated due diligence as well as consultation and discussion with community user groups, nearest neighbours and the broader community. Engagement will seek feedback on the proposal as a whole as well as on specific impacts to the site and to the groups that use it.

  Staff are required to report back to Council at the March 18, 2025 City Council meeting on the outcome of these consultations, the feasibility of the proposal, and with proposed terms for a lease agreement should the project be deemed viable. If Council provides direction to move forward with the lease at the March 18, 2025 meeting, VGV would then need to move the project through both site plan and building approvals which would involve the submission and review of specific technical studies including, but not limited to, traffic/parking studies, noise studies, light studies, etc.

  What needs to be considered to ensure the project is viable?

  Many things that are currently happening or are planned to happen at the site can continue alongside of the proposed stadium project. These include:

  • The site will continue to include space for the year-round Farmers’ Market
  • There would continue to be sufficient space on the property to implement a future redevelopment that could include two ice pads and community space including an indoor Farmers’ Market as per previous high-level visioning for the site. 
  • Culligan Water Park would continue to be enclosed to function as a year-round aquatic facility
  • There would be no impact on the park, play structure or splash pad areas at the front of the property 
  • There would be no impact on the Memorial Wall

  There are areas of the site that would be impacted by the stadium. As part of the feasibility assessment, due diligence, and community and user group consultations Council has asked us to look into a number of things. These include:

  • To explore how any removal of the barns could be undertaken as part of the phased development of the stadium and site, and to ensure that there would be options at the site to support the operations of organizations currently making use of the barns
  • To work with the Memorial Centre Farmers Market specifically to ensure that their year round operations are able to continue at the site
  • To work with the Agricultural Society to identify impacts and coordinate on alternate options/opportunities for the fall fair operations 
  • To assess impacts to the dog park and consult on how the park could be relocated within the field at the back of the property
  • To asses impacts and consult on the loss of some sport field uses and on impacts to the circular track at the back of the property 
  • To conduct a viability assessment of the stadium proposal at this site and of Victory Ground Ventures

  How your feedback will be used

  Questions received during this phase of public engagement will be shared with the project team and answered here on Get Involved Kingston. All feedback received during the public engagement will be considered by staff and reported back to Council on March 18.

• Project update: What you've shared and new engagement opportunities

  Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to sign up for updates or ask a question on Get Involved Kingston. Since opening the project page last week, more than 2,100 people visited the page, 198 people signed up to receive updates by email and 148 questions has been asked. To help raise awareness of the proposal and engagement opportunities, we’ve sent news releases to local media and email subscribers and are talking about the project on social media. The City’s social media community is very engaged, with nearly 200 comments on our Facebook post about the proposed stadium..

  What you’ve shared so far

  We’ve collected all the questions on Get Involved Kinston and organized them into emerging themes, along with the number of times that a question or comment was raised, as well as an update or response from the project team. Comments from social media are excluded from this engagement summary.

  Parking and Traffic (28 mentions)

  • From participants: Concerns about the lack of parking space and the impact on local traffic and how the increased traffic will be managed in the residential area.
  • From the project team: We have started work on the transportation study and are relying on the expertise of an independent third-party consultant to help us with this part of the project. The outcome of the transportation study will be ready in March.

  Impact on Existing Facilities and Events (25 mentions):
  

  • From participants: Questions about the impact on the Farmers Market, Fall Fair, and other community events that currently use the Memorial Centre grounds and concerns about the future of the dog park and whether it will remain on-site or be relocated.
  • From the project team: during the week of Jan. 27, we will begin focused conversations with organizations that would be affected by the stadium, including event organizers, rental partners and community organizations. Their input will be collected and shared back to the community and Council. We are also reviewing past community plans, contracts and agreements to ensure we are fulfilling existing commitments to community associations and event organizers, including the Kingston Agricultural Society and Memorial Centre Farmer’s Market.

  Alternative Locations (21 mentions):

  • From participants: Suggestions for other potential sites for the stadium, such as the Novelis (previous Alcan) site or areas closer to the highway.
  • From the project team: as directed by Council, we’re focusing on the Memorial Centre site as a location for the stadium. Council has asked us to look at alternate options/locations for the annual Agricultural Fair, which we will report back to Council with.

  Community Use and Accessibility (19 mentions):

  • From participants: Concerns about the cost for community groups to access the stadium and how the facility will remain accessible to the community and not just for professional sports.
  • From the project team: it is expected the professional and semi-professional soccer teams would each play 14 to 16 times per year. The rest of the time, the facility would be available for community use. This would include sports activities, as well as use of the stadium amenities, like storage, stands and washroom amenities. At this stage in the proposal, we do not have a list of costs that would be associated with renting the stadium.

  Noise and Light Pollution (15 mentions):

  • From participants: Questions about acceptable levels of noise and light pollution during events and how they will be mitigated.
  • From the project team: studies on noise and light will be provided to the City by the proponent, with the understanding that municipal bylaws would need to be followed, including any bylaw exemption requests.

  Financial Viability and Risks (17 mentions):

  • From participants: Concerns about the financial stability of the project and what will happen if the project is not successful and questions about the funding source and the potential financial burden on the city and taxpayers.
  • From the project team: due diligence on the business plan and the proponent’s funding structure are underway, and we are relying on the expertise of an independent third-party consultant to undertake this work. We will be able to report back in March to Council on the results of this work.

  Environmental Impact (14 mentions):

  • From participants: Concerns about the loss of green space and the impact on local wildlife as well as about the removal of trees and other environmental considerations.
  • From the project team: parkland and tree inventories tell us the Williamsville community has the lowest concentration of greenspace. New park development projects in Williamsville are already planned to help green the community. We’re not at the stage in the stadium project where detailed landscape plans are developed. All of these factors will be taken into consideration when we report back to Council in March.

  Support for a multi-sport stadium (10 mentions):

  • From participants: Comments about increase in revenue and tourism, favourable neighbourhood walkability and transit and excitement to buy tickets for events at the facility.
  • From the project team: staff are guided by Council priorities, including the pillar of Drive Inclusive Economic Growth. The Integrated Destination Strategy also provides direction to staff to investigate opportunities to grow sport tourism.

  Engagement next steps

  • Survey: On Jan. 28, broad community consultation will open through a survey on Get Involved Kingston. We’ll be asking how people use the site and how changes with a multi-sport stadium would affect them. The survey will close on Feb. 28.

  • Focused conversations: we’re meeting with organizations this week to learn more about how they specifically use the site and explore any opportunities and ideas they have about the project.

  • In-person drop ins or pop-ups: In early February, we will plan an engagement session before we report back to Council on March 18. Although we are in the early planning stages of this engagement, we plan to share information on what we’ve learned about the technical components of the projects (like traffic, parking and planning) as well as a summary of engagement results to date. Community members will have an opportunity to share additional input with City staff and ask us questions about the proposed stadium. A formal town hall style with microphones and roundtable Q&As are not planned.

  Project next steps

  The project team is working to compile the necessary information and technical reports Council will need to make a decision at its March 18 meeting. There is a tremendous amount of information we’re collecting, including servicing and environmental impacts, business case documentation, parking and transportation studies, planning and zoning bylaw documents, previous master plans and strategies and historical agreements with community partners. If the proposal supported by Council, the next step would have the project move on to the Planning stage, which has its own prescribed and legislated process for receiving feedback and further approval by Planning Committee and Council.

  Stay connected by signing up for project updates, including the dates of future engagement opportunities and links to the Council report when it is posted in March.

  
  

• News release: Add your voice to the Kingston Memorial Centre multi-sport stadium conversation!

  Earlier this month, Kingston’s City Council met to discuss an opportunity to establish a multi-sports stadium, through a long-term land lease in a designated area at the Kingston Memorial Centre. The project, proposed by Victory Ground Ventures, would support bringing a Canadian Premier League and two semi-professional soccer teams to Kingston. The stadium would also be available year-round for community user groups and sports organizations.

  Do you have a question about the multi-sport stadium project proposed for Kingston’s Memorial Centre or want to follow allow with the conversation and public engagement progress? A new project page on Get Involved Kingston has launched, marking the beginning of the City-led public engagement.

  From now until Feb. 28, 2025, community organizations, partner agencies, near neighbours, event organizers and site users which would be affected by the proposed multi-sport stadium have an opportunity to share ideas, concerns and questions with the City through a series of public engagement opportunities. Feedback collected during the consultation process will be shared on the Get Involved Kingston platform.

  “Engaging with our community is essential to ensure that any development at the Kingston Memorial Centre reflects the values and needs of community members. We are committed to a transparent process where every voice is heard, considered and shared with Council,” says Jennifer Campbell, Commissioner, Community Services.

  All engagement dates and opportunities will be shared on Get Involved Kingston, and everyone who signs up for project news will receive updates directly to their email inboxes.