Molson Park

Molson Park (now Park Place) – home of large scale concerts such as Lollapalooza and Edgefest. Tens of thousands of fans crammed in 80 hectares.

Molson Park was witness to many great concert tours - Edgefest, Lollapalooza, Live 8, etc.







Edgfest '03 took place, on 6 September as was billed as "The Last Bash in Barrie" but still is used for big concerts (Warped Tour, 2005).






The venue still gets used for outdoor sports shows such as Hay Days North, Snowmobile & ATV Show hosted by the CSRA this weekend.



The 'Rock'n'Roll' Motel, located behind the main stage was where hospitality suites were provided for the Rock Stars.


Wandering through this compound, I imagined stoned rockers pouring booze freely for young groupies.



This rock'n'roll motel was immaculately maintained. The storage room was chocked full'o'cr@p such as croquet mallets, umbrellas, and boxes of condoms.







The shared washrooms / showers were also very clean denying me of my customary 'money $hot'. All I could think of here was the boys of Spinal Tap pi$$ing in the sink.




The former beer store, located a spit away from the cottager-thronged Highway 400 was Central Ontario's first, last and only drive-trhough beer store.



The drive-through Staff consisted of beautiful girls who would remove empties from your trunk and deliver a king can to your window.

The store enjoyed uncommonly rare Sunday openinings (back 'in the day') as it was located on the same property as the brewery.

The building is currently being used as home to the 'Talk is Free Theatre'. This venue, which was provided free by the developer to the company boasts 120 seats.



Some site history:
In 1967, 597 acres were annexed from Innisfil by the City of Barrie to accommodate the establishment of the Formosa Spring Brewery, which became Molson's.



In the mid 1970's, Molson's Brewery purchased the Formosa Spring Brewery of Barrie. Soon, Moslon constucted a park adjacent to the south of the brewery and placed Central Ontario's first and only drive-through beer store on the corner of the park bordering Molson Park Drive and Hwy. 400.

In October 1999, Molson announced its intention to close the Barrie, Ontario brewery. After its close, the park was severed from the property and was purchased by the developer North American who renamed the site Park Place.



Redevelopment:
North American is hoping to redevelop the property to a 'business retail village' and 'lifestyle centre' of sorts featuring many up-scale retail shops, restaurants, hotels, entertainment outlets, and industrial/manufacturing buildings.



Currently the war is still being waged between the City of Barrie, Park Place (North American), and the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB).