The Ontario Agri-Food Discovery Centre group held its third annual general meeting and the first in-person one at Trillium Mutual Insurance in Listowel on March 27.
The group had its board of directors elected, and held an information session for local stakeholders regarding the project aimed at building a state-of-the-art agri-science discovery centre in Listowel.
Chair Steve Dolson says the project remains in the early stages, and over the next few months, they'll be reaching out to more businesses in the immediate area to try and secure their membership and show that there's solid interest locally first.
"We are going to be developing plans to go outside the Huron-Perth area to get financial support for this whole centre to be a reality. It's at minimum a $20 million project and potentially upwards of $38 million," Dolson detailed.
Dolson says this will be Canada's first agriculture and food science centre, and it will be 10 acres of land in Listowel by the arena.
The meeting featured a presentation by keynote speaker Kerry-Leigh Burchill, the Director General of the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum in Ottawa. She shared how the museum educates and engages with the public on how agriculture affects and enriches society as a whole, and encouraged the Ontario Agri-Food Discovery Centre group to do the same.
However, Dolson points out that unlike the museum in Ottawa, the centre won't generally feature live animals, with a different focus in mind instead.
"We do not expect to have live animals on the grounds on a regular basis. We hope to have controlled tours go out and take people to actual operating farms in our area," shared Dolson.
The next few years will involve getting more local and national businesses and partners to put their support behind the project, followed by a roughly 2 year capital campaign which will hopefully launch this time next year. After that, Dolson says they'll look at what they have in terms of project capital and plan out the build in phases.
As the planning continues, Dolson says the next few months will also involve getting more hard details on what the centre will look like, how they can rotate in numerous different displays and interactive elements to keep people coming back, as well as other uses for the site like live events and gatherings.
The meeting also saw the board of directors nominated by current stakeholders in the project. The board includes Sylvia Behrns, Dawne Boersen, Dave Bray, Barry Crean, Steve Dolson, Cassie Greidanus, Elizabeth Johnston, Jillian Lewis, Claudia Prescott, Christine Schoonderwoerd and Marlin Stoltz.
Dolson notes that obviously the centre will aim to educate people on the agri-food industry's importance, but another goal is to encourage young people to take interest in the industry, too.
"We also want to excite young people about the many, many careers that are out there in this field. There's a lot of opportunities out there that people aren't aware of and we want to stimulate that interest, as well," Dolson shared enthusiastically.
So far, those supporting the centre include Boulevard North, Corteva Agriscience, DesignLogix Engineering Inc., Grand River Agricultural Society, Hensall Co-op, Huron Perth Agriculture and Water Festival, Molesworth Farm Supply Ltd., Ontario Trillium Foundation, OPPA Branch 6, Perth County Cultivating Opportunity Grant, Schoonderwoerd Bros. Concrete Ltd., The Municipality of North Perth, Trillium Mutual Insurance, Ward & Uptigrove and Wallenstein Feed & Supply Ltd.
Memberships are available with the not-for-profit, charitable-status organization. Cost of personal membership is $100 annually, and $250 for a business membership. If you are interested in membership or donating towards the project, you can visit www.oafdc.ca or email admin@huronperthagsciencecentre.ca.
You can also follow the OAFDC on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram
for updates.