The Boathouse reopens in Kitchener's Victoria Park

A long-awaited opening has finally arrived after years of uncertainty.

A reopening ceremony was held in Kitchener’s Victoria Park Friday morning at 11 a.m. at The Boathouse, a restaurant and live music venue.

The building has been closed since 2019 and it faced an unknown future for several years until the city-owned building was leased to local entrepreneurs, Walkinshaw Holdings, in 2022.

Since then, the building has been revamped to show off the beauty of Victoria Park while providing a space for performers.

“There has been a great community buzz about the space and now that the doors are finally open people can walk in comfortably knowing its not a construction site,” Operations Manager Shawn Flanagan said. “We’re ready to open up the doors and welcome people in. The reservations for the weekend are full essentially but we are leaving some room for walk-in just so everyone can get a feel for it, but we’re anticipating a great buzz.”

The revitalization of the space includes an outdoor patio and a dining room peppered with depictions of some of Kitchener’s most famous scenes.

“Seeing this iconic facility that has been here since the late 1800s opening up again – it is just phenomenal,” Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic told CTV News during the opening ceremony.

“This has been a great gathering place for many decades for Kitchener residents, but also for people who have come here, because of its well-known music scene. We know people who have gone on and launched their music careers from here and continue to be amazing local talent and national talent and we’re excited because part of Walkinshaw’s vision is to bring that back again.”

According to a release form the city, Walkinshaw Holdings is establishing a local arts fund and will form a Community Advisory Committee to ensure the programming at The Boathouse is inclusive and diverse.

“We’re hoping that The Boathouse will exemplify and amplify that change in Kitchener growing up into a more tech focused, music focused, art focused city,” Flanagan said.

The folks behind the newly opened space also say they will be focusing on supporting the community by creating culinary experiences featuring locally sourced food.

The Boathouse will be open year-round.