Canadian Canoe Museum Announces $1.775 Million Transformative Gift for New Waterfront Campus

The Canadian Canoe Museum (CCM) announced Thursday a transformative gift of $1,775,000 to create a vibrant, community-oriented waterfront campus along the shores of the Museum’s future home at 2077 Ashburnham Drive.

Jeremy Ward (Curator), Rodger Wright (Fundraising Cabinet volunteer), Carolyn Hyslop (Executive Director), Stu Lang (donor), Helen Batten (Landscape Architect, Basterfield & Associates Ltd.) and David Hadden (Fundraising Cabinet volunteer) during a visit to the CCM’s future home. photo courtesy of the canadian canoe museum.

The Lakefront Campus and Gathering Circle, made possible by the philanthropic efforts of former CFL player and businessman Stuart (Stu) Lang and his wife, Kim, will offer visitors the chance to learn and build connections with the land, water, and community through immersive, authentic outdoor experiences that will create a new generation of paddlers.

The CCM's future home features a 5.3-acre Lakefront Campus that will extend and enhance the museum experience, offering visitors a variety of outdoor activities both on and off the water. The 1,200 feet of shoreline, docks, boardwalk, restored and naturalized spaces, and wetland will act as a multi-purpose outdoor classroom for learners of all ages and be an active community space.

"We are incredibly grateful and fortunate for the passion, vision, and generosity of the Langs. Stu has taken great pride in helping craft an active waterfront that can complement the Museum, with many of the ideas for the Lakefront Campus coming from Stu himself. This gift, confirmed in the fall of 2022, has grown to the transformative gift it is today because of the Langs’ commitment to excellence and elevating the CCM to a national level," said Carolyn Hyslop, executive director.

The future home of The Canadian Canoe Museum, set to open later this summer or early fall, will invite visitors to walk in the front door of the Museum and paddle out the back with an array of outdoor programming on its new Lakefront Campus. Render by Lett Architects Inc. Photo courtesy of The Canadian Canoe Museum.

A conceptual illustration of the Lakefront Campus and Gathering Circle. The new 65,000 square-foot museum and 5.3-acre Lakefront Campus on the Trent-Severn Waterway will not only care for the watercraft and chronicle their history, but it will also enable visitors to experience the magic of the canoe and the outdoors firsthand. The Lakefront Campus will feature a Gathering Circle, an accessible boardwalk to the Trans Canada Trail and waterfront, a Canoe House, a dock for voyageur canoe tours, a large dock for teaching and canoe and kayak rentals, an accessible canoe and kayak launch, and a walk-in canoe launch. Illustration by Basterfield & Associates Ltd. Photo courtesy of The Canadian Canoe Museum.

A conceptual illustration of the Lakefront Campus and Gathering Circle. The new 65,000 square-foot museum and 5.3-acre Lakefront Campus on the Trent-Severn Waterway will not only care for the watercraft and chronicle their history, but it will also enable visitors to experience the magic of the canoe and the outdoors firsthand. The Lakefront Campus will feature a Gathering Circle, an accessible boardwalk to the Trans Canada Trail and waterfront, a Canoe House, a dock for voyageur canoe tours, a large dock for teaching and canoe and kayak rentals, an accessible canoe and kayak launch, and a walk-in canoe launch. Illustration by Basterfield & Associates Ltd. Photo courtesy of The Canadian Canoe Museum.

An aerial view of the Lakefront Campus, taken on February 13, depicting construction on the boardwalk and Canoe House. Photo courtesy of The Canadian Canoe Museum.

A Gathering Circle outside the Museum’s main entrance will greet visitors arriving by car, bus, bicycle, or on foot. Inspired by Canadian canoe routes and water's impact on the landscape, the Gathering Circle will feature natural elements, emphasizing the relationship between land and water. A water infiltration garden, wood slat benches, and a small amphitheatre surrounded by large granite boulders and white pine trees will offer visitors a space for reflection and education before or after their adventures.

The redevelopment of the waterfront will also include an accessible, year-round boardwalk connecting the CCM to the Trans Canada Trail and the shoreline. There will be many opportunities to get out on the water with a walk-in canoe launch, two expansive seasonal canoe docks, and an adaptive canoe and kayak launch station. The docks and Canoe House will allow the CCM to host voyageur canoe tours, adult and youth paddling programs, certification courses, regattas and canoe and kayak rentals for the public.

The Lakefront Campus is an entirely new offering for the CCM, one where visitors can take their newly acquired skills and understandings outside and put them into practice immediately, creating a fully integrated visitor experience.

“Participants in a paddle carving or canoe restoration workshop will experience the excitement of testing their freshly honed skills on the water. Schoolchildren and campers will get their hands dirty while exploring the biodiversity of the wetland or learning to build a campfire. Seating and signage throughout the site will encourage visitors and trail users to take in the expansive views of Little Lake before or after visiting the galleries. And the docks, canoe racks and a connection to the Trans Canada Trail will encourage community connectivity and active, accessible transportation,” continued Hyslop.

The Lang’s are highly respected members of the Guelph community, contributing to the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC), the Guelph Humane Society and Guelph General Hospital. They are well-known champions of Queen's University, their alma mater, and the University of Guelph, where the Lang School of Business and Economics is named after Stu’s father.

Stu had a successful eight-year professional football career with the Edmonton Elks in the Canadian Football League (CFL), winning five Grey Cups. He later joined the family business, CCL Industries, and worked there for 25 years before becoming a director of the company.

Stu and Kim also have a passion for camping and canoe tripping, having attended The Taylor Statten Camps in Algonquin Park. At these camps, they both developed a life-long passion and interest in canoeing, the outdoors, and educating youth about Canadian history.

"The Canadian Canoe Museum's world-class collection deserves an outstanding home. A fully realized Lakefront Campus and Gathering Circle are essential. They will showcase the canoe's incredible history and cultural significance and connect people to the land and water in a way that only hands-on experiences can. The new museum will be a place where people can come together, learn by doing, and be inspired by the stories and traditions of the canoe. It's an investment in our past, present, and future, and we are proud to be a part of it," says Stu Lang.

The Langs join a generous group of donors and funders across the country contributing to the Inspiring Canada by Canoe campaign, which has raised 95% of the $40 million cost for the project.

The new museum is made possible, in part, by the CCM’s lead donor and government partners, including the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), the Weston Family Foundation, the City of Peterborough, Peterborough County, and the Province of Ontario.

The new museum and waterfront campus are under construction, with an anticipated grand opening in late summer or early fall. For more information or to sign-up for updates, visit CCM's website.

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.