In March, the company Live Incorporated posted schematics on its website for a 20,000-person concert venue to be built at the JW Marriott The Rosseau Muskoka, a luxury hotel on the shores of Lake Rosseau in Minett, Ont.
According to the schematics, the concert venue would be approximately 400,000 sq. ft., occupying a fielded area with two ponds. That’s larger than Toronto’s Budweiser Stage, which is approximately 300,000 sq. ft. and can accommodate 16,000 people. The venue would include a spa with pools, a celebrity speakeasy, a recording studio, an art gallery, and a rock school.
The schematics, however, have been pulled from the company’s website after community backlash.
“They have a site plan agreement for that property that has a lot of restrictions about cutting trees and putting in new buildings, and they would need to get approvals for that,” says Ken Pearce, vice president of the Muskoka Lakes Association (MLA). “Right now, it’s an open field, and I think they’ve already cut about 20 trees.”
The Township of Muskoka Lakes has yet to discuss the plans for the concert venue but is already working to limit the size of a music festival Live Incorporated plans to host at the JW Marriott this Canada Day long weekend. The festival is to take place from June 28 to 30 on the site of the proposed concert venue, with an expected attendance of 10,000 people. The festival’s line-up features acts such as Jim Cuddy, K’NAAN, and JP Saxe.
Pearce stresses that the MLA isn’t against music festivals, it’s the size of the festival they’re worried about. “There’s a one-lane bridge that goes up into that area at Port Sandfield, and on a holiday long weekend, you can imagine the lineups normally going northbound on Friday and southbound on Sunday,” he says. Throw in an extra 10,000 people and it could take cottagers hours to get to their properties.
Pearce adds that there are also concerns over parking, accommodations, and safety. He says there aren’t any nearby lots that could fit all those cars, not to mention the JW Marriott only has 221 rooms. The MLA’s worried that this could lead to concertgoers parking and camping on local’s properties.
In the case of an emergency, the nearest hospital is 40 kilometres away, with the area relying on a volunteer fire department and the Bracebridge Ontario Provincial Police detachment—which serves multiple townships, including Bracebridge, Gravenhurst, and Georgian Bay—for emergency services.
Pearce also says that he’s heard anecdotally that if the Canada Day festival is a success, Live Incorporated may start hosting music festivals every other weekend.
To address the size of the festival, town council is set to amend its special events bylaw to limit the number of people allowed at an event on private property to 500. For events above that number, the property owner will need to apply for a special event permit. The application for a permit must be submitted no less than 90 days prior to the event. However, the township is considering reducing that number to 30 days for events taking place before July 15 of this year.
The JW Marriott, which is owned by Michael DiCienzo, who also owns Live Incorporated, did not respond to comment on the concert venue or the Canada Day music festival. However, in a comment on Instagram, Live Incorporated said:
“At the appropriate time, we will let all of Muskoka know what they have missed out on. All is in place and submitted for Canada Day concerts on a smaller scale. But the big announcement will be shared soon but most likely not to [the] benefit of Muskoka but Niagara Falls who has supported it with open arms. Wait until Muskoka finds out what they have missed out on. It’s on the MLA and we do feel bad for residents and friends in Muskoka. Seriously Muskoka will be missing out on something never seen before.”