Join the Conversation as we explore an opportunity to accommodate a multi-sport stadium at the Kingston Memorial Centre.

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.

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 see feedback on the project 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 a 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