heneghan peng Architects Announced As Winning Design For New Canoe Museum

After working through 97 high quality Stage 1 submissions from leading firms located all over the world, the Canadian Canoe Museum announced on Thursday (January 21st) Ireland-based heneghan peng and Toronto-based Kearns Mancini as the designers of the new Canadian Canoe Museum at the Peterborough Lift Lock. One of the reasons why their design won is that their design worked organically with the land rather than overwhelming it.

"The organically-shaped volume banded on its top edge with local hardwood is embedded within the site’s drumlins, allowing the museum’s light-sensitive collections of historic birch bark canoes that date back to the 1780s and aboriginal artefacts to enjoy energy-passive, naturally dark spaces. The museum’s stunning two-acre green roof will provide the community with the possibility of creating edible gardens, native flower pollinators and aboriginal three sister plantings while facilitating efficient management of storm water and fantastic views to the Lift Lock."

The design includes:

• 17,000 sq ft of exhibition

• 20,000 sq ft of high bay storage that will be accessible to the public

• 250-seat multi-purpose room available for events and weddings

• Eastern door for aboriginal sunrise ceremonies

• Restaurant, café; local food

• Gift shop

• Toddler play area

• Trent-Severn Canal Exhibition, Parks Canada

• Artisanal workshops

• On-canal programming, canoe skills for all ages, winter and summer

• Citizenship ceremonies in canoes, next to the museum

• Connections to Trent-Severn bike path, in front of the museum

• Outdoor terrace and public space for yoga, food festivals 

“The design looks forward to the importance of sustainability, respect and responsibility as we move forward as a Nation to the Sesquicentennial in 2017, and beyond,” says Richard Tucker, executive director of the Canadian Canoe Museum.

“The design speaks to the importance of the contents, programming and messages conveyed by the Canadian Canoe Museum and its craft to all Canadians,” Tucker adds.

White-model of #thenewcanoemuseum the museum embraces aboriginal wisdom to live and build lightly on the land. pic.twitter.com/tgDzrj32hE

— Canoe Museum (@CndnCanoeMuseum) January 22, 2016

Learn more over at the Canadian Canoe Museum's website.

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UPDATE: The Movie People In Lakefield Is Closing

[UPDATE: December 5th, 2016] We wrote last January (see original post below) about a movie store, The Movie People in Lakefield, Ontario, that was somehow thriving in the age of Netflix. Sadly, it is now closing—one of the last remaining movie rental stores in the Kawarthas. Owner Kevin J O'Callaghan tells PTBOCanada he is devastated but the decline in business over the past year has been dramatic and he doesn't see it ever turning. "With the number of people buying Android boxes and Netflix continuing to expand its library, we couldn't fight that," he says. What's also sad for Kevin beyond losing his store—his passion—in this community he loves is the number of old movie classics from various eras that consumers will no longer be able to view, from Rebel Without A Cause to A Clockwork Orange. Those movies are not as readily accessible anymore on new age tech movie platforms, and are an important part of pop culture history.

Watch the heartfelt announcement from Kevin below in this Facebook video he posted...

ORIGINAL POST (January 19th, 2016):

It may be the age of Netflix but don't tell that to a locally owned and operated movie rental store in the small community of Lakefield, Ont. near Peterborough.

Indeed, The Movie People has not only survived the glut of movie rental store closures—from big box to ma and pa—in the digital age but is thriving through great customer service, diverse selection, pop culture expertise and community love.

Owner Kevin J O’Callaghan tells PTBOCanada that they have been in business since 2010—having moved here from Toronto where Kevin left a corporate career.

"We chose Lakefield as there was an existing movie chain going out of business, and we bought the fixtures and rented the space and started over with our own brand of movie rental store," Kevin says.

While there is no question more people are getting their movies on demand from the comfort of their living room, Kevin tells PTBOCanada his store has not been impacted.

"We have not seen a decline in rentals over the past four years," he says. "We have a very large selection of TV shows, new releases and thousands of older titles—indie films, documentary, classics and so much more. Netflix doesn’t affect us as much as you hear on the street. The Bricks and Mortar store is still a very important part of our community. People like to communicate with other neighbours and friends about their choices and pics for movie night!"

"We have new titles every week that would not be on Netflix and that are much more expensive on pay per view avenues," Kevin tells PTBOCanada. "Ninety nine percent of our titles are available for 7 days rental—the only one day rentals are just the new movies of the week and last week's titles."

Owner Kevin O’Callaghan

Interestingly, TV shows are a very large part of The Movie People's rentals. "Not everyone has access to the particular stations and binge watching is very big," Kevin explains. In other words, traditional media is now being consumed in non-traditional ways. You can watch TV shows by going to the movie rental store.

Customer service is huge at this store, the demographics are wider than you might think, and cottagers coming up to the Kawarthas from the GTA love it.

"We engage every customer in the store and we are known for our warm customer approach and knowledge of the industry," Kevin tells PTBOCanada. "Our demographics are every age group, not just one.  When the customers from Toronto and other larger cities come, they are the happiest of all our customer groups as they are still in love with the movie store."

At the end of the day, it's all about community support. "We all have to support small local businesses in our area," Kevin says.

—By Neil Morton

To learn more about The Movie People, go to their website, Twitter page or Facebook page.

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Learn 8 Things About Peterborough Chamber's Young Professionals Group (YPG)

The Peterborough Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Group (YPG) is a dynamic group of young business people working to expand their networks and develop new skills. 

At the Chamber's monthly YPG events, they strive to bring together like minded individuals who share a passion and a commitment to continuous development, and a desire to help foster growth both personally and professionally within our community.  

YPG event

The YPG's events are open to young professionals in the community as well as anyone that wants to network with young professionals.  

Below Are 9 Things You Might Not Know About The YPG...

YPG event

1. YPG was originally called Club Laurus. (Laurus leaves were used in ancient Greeks to crown victors.)

2. YPG was built on the premise of triumph, victory and success for young business professionals.

3. YPG can be a great place to start building professional connections with the Peterborough business community, including the Chamber’s over 900 members.

4. The YPG was first formed in Peterborough in 2007, and will be celebrating its 10th anniversary next year.

YPG event

5. The YPG Chair for 2016 is Chris Salmans from SunLife. Past Chairs have included Ben vanVeen, Jim Baird, Lacey Richard, Jason Chessar and Jef Dueck.

6. YPG offers 5 networking events, 3 CEO tours and is the coordinating committee for the Chamber Business Summit.

Montage from YPG events

7. Former YPG Committee Members such as Pat Marren, Jef Dueck, Ben vanVeen, Joe Grant and Scott Mancini have gone on to be members of the Peterborough Chamber board.

8. Through its policy forum, YPGP has been a voice at the table on downtown Peterborough, jobs strategy, unemployment and how municipal services can be improved.

Join the YPG at their next event on Thursday, January 21st, 2016 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at The Venue for an evening of networking, Peterborough Trivia and an interview with PTBOCanada.com’s Neil Morton (a Chamber board member) on social media, business, entrepreneurship, community and more!  

To learn more about YPG, go to their website and Facebook page. Use the hashtag #YPGPtbo and tweet at @PtboChamber on Twitter at events. To learn more about the Peterborough Chamber, click here.

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