Timeline: VGV's decision to drop the Memorial Centre soccer stadium idea

From Thursday March 6 to Saturday March 8, 2025

Thursday, March 6: The Kingston Whig-Standard’s March 6 online edition and the Saturday March 7 print paper carry a story by Elliot Ferguson which begins: “The Ottawa proponent [Paul Barbeau] of a proposed new soccer stadium at the Memorial Centre said he is optimistic the idea will get city council approval later this month.”

Ferguson writes that he interviewed Barbeau Thursday afternoon. “We’re still working on it,” Barbeau told him. “There’s still a ton of stuff to do. We had a very quick timeline, and we’re doing our best to, to get everything we need.”

That afternoon, Barbeau and one other member of the Victory Grounds Ventures group met with four members of the Agricultural Society — president Yvonne Compton, past president Gail Shook, 2nd vice-president Dennis Williams, and office manager Ellen Mortfield. The City’s director of arts and cultural services Danica Lochhead also attended the meeting.

Compton described the meeting as “cordial.” She said that Barbeau suggested different ideas for allowing the Fall Fair to continue with the stadium in place, none of which she said were feasible. “We told him we had a lawyer and a strong legal opinion”. When he challenged this information Compton said she told him “I am not going debate legalities with you. I’m not a lawyer. You’re not a lawyer.”

Barbeau left the meeting at one point to take a phone call. Was it from the Mayor?

Friday, March 7: The city’s legal department received a letter via email from the Agricultural Society’s lawyer, Jennifer Savini, a partner at Templeman LLP working out of their Belleville office. The letter asserts the Agricultural Society’s right to the “exclusive possession” of the Memorial Centre grounds for the Fall Fair and reminds the city of the agreement that was made when the Agricultural Society gave the city the funds it had raised in the late 1940s and early 1950s for the Memorial Centre.

At 4:38pm, Councillor Cinanni posted a notice on his Facebook page:

“UPDATE!
Victory Grounds Ventures has made the decision not to move forward with the proposed project at the Memorial Centre
Official update from the City to come.”

At 10pm, the City put out this media release:

“Memorial Centre Soccer Stadium Proposal Withdrawn

After careful thought and consideration, Victory Grounds Ventures has withdrawn its proposed project involving a soccer stadium at the Memorial Centre ahead of a Report which City Staff were expecting to present at the Council meeting of March 18.

As a result, the City will pause any further analysis of the proposal as had been requested by City Council.

This was one of the most robust engagements the City had ever been involved in, with hundreds of people taking time to come forward and share their comments about the proposal while a number of City staff members worked through the Council-directed process.

The City wishes to extend sincere appreciation to the many user groups, sports leagues, community associations, and people connected to the Memorial Centre who took time to provide valued feedback during this process.”

This is the official statement from Victory Grounds Ventures:

“As many of you are aware, VGV has decided to withdraw our existing proposal for the Memorial Centre site. During our due diligence process, we identified potential legal challenges that ultimately impacted the project's feasibility.

We want to extend our sincere gratitude to the dedicated city staff who have worked tirelessly over the past two months, as well as to the community members who have shown incredible support throughout this process.

While this particular proposal will not move forward, we remain excited about the future—for both VGV and the Memorial Centre.”

In an email sent at 11:56 am March 8th, Barbeau wrote in answer to a request for a comment:

“I did not want City staff and my team to continue working long hours on the yet-to-be-completed report when, in my view, this matter [legal issues] needed to be addressed first and our advisor said that would not be possible before the 18th.

As you know, I am under an exclusivity agreement with the City until May, and I am awaiting their release from this agreement so that I can engage with others regarding this project. The process we have just gone through has demonstrated that there is significant positive interest in the project in Kingston.

There are other areas in Kingston I am excited to be able to look at.”

Annette Burfoot, co-chair of the Williamsville Community Association, said “This has taken an enormous amount of community time and effort, impressive in its volume and sentiment in favour of preserving the Memorial Centre space as public, accessible, and open. Of course we are pleased with the outcome but why did we have to go through this again?”

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Anyone interested in volunteering to help with the 193rd Fall Fair, September 11 - 14, 2025 is invited to email the Agricultural Society to receive a volunteer form.

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From the Memorial Centre Farmers’ Market —

This Sunday there will be a chef demo for Kingstonlicious! Eric Robertson, a Michelin-starred chef, will be leading a chef demonstration and tasting station that celebrates the finest local ingredients from some of our very own vendors.
The samples for this event are sold out but all are welcome to watch!