$100-million ‘iconic’ pier will host festivals, fairs and food pop-ups on Mississauga’s waterfront
Published November 29, 2023 at 3:25 pm
Builders of a huge new community in southeast Mississauga say a reimagined pier that’s part of the development will quickly become an “iconic destination” that will be “admired as a distinguishable landmark on Lake Ontario.”
Reaching some 600 metres out into Lake Ontario, the new-look, animated pier will be the longest such Canadian attraction on the Great Lakes when completed an unspecified number of years from now.
Mayor Bonnie Crombie, who earlier estimated the cost of the revamped waterfront structure to be about $100 million, has said the new attraction will also go a long way toward putting Mississauga on the international tourist map.
The developer of the nearby Lakeview Village community, Lakeview Community Partners Limited, said in a recent online project update that the former industrial marker along Mississauga’s waterfront will be “transformed into an iconic destination to celebrate local food and culture and will be admired as a distinguishable landmark on Lake Ontario.”
The reimagined pier, the developer adds, will offer a “world-class waterfront experience” while also connecting people “to places to play, with paddleboards, kayaks, a marina and a beach nearby. Year-round, it will be energized and activated with music festivals, art fairs and eatery pop-ups.”
Rendering of the new pier. (Image: Lakeview Community Partners Limited)
For decades, notes LCPL in its update, the pier was closed off from the public, used as an industrial pier to transport coal from ships to the former power plant on the site.
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“After its demolition, the coal plant left behind a unique one-kilometre-long pier that will become an important catalyst in reconnecting Mississauga with its waterfront,” the developer said. “Once complete, the newly imagined pier will offer panoramic views and a unique waterside experience.”
LCPL adds that the new Lakeview Village Pier will also create new jobs, support local businesses and generate revenue for the City of Mississauga.
“Simply put, building a waterfront destination equates to building a stronger economy for cities,” the developer said.
City of Mississauga officials, meanwhile, are also eagerly anticipating the addition of what promises to be a bustling waterfront attraction.
A city spokesperson told insauga.com via email this week that the “Lakeview Village Development includes a pier, trails and parks that will transfer to the city’s ownership as part of the project.”
The city confirmed the pier is, in fact, 600 metres in length (as it reaches out into the lake) and that the developer’s calculation of the pier at one kilometre in length “includes the horizontal component that separates the inlet channel from Lake Ontario.”
“The pier, together with the connection to the trail system and parks, will provide residents with a new publicly accessible waterfront and remains a key priority for the city,” the spokesperson added.
When open to the public, the Mississauga pier will be significantly longer than the nearby Burlington pier (137 metres in length), but much shorter than Chicago’s famous Navy Pier, which juts out more than one kilometre (1,006 metres) into Lake Michigan.
Aerial image shows layout of the new Lakeview Village community and pier.
In an earlier Instagram interview with insauga.com publisher Khaled Iwamura, Crombie described the pier project as “very exciting” and “amazing” if and when it comes to fruition.
“There’s opportunity for restaurants on the pier and little shops. It’s amazing; it’s absolutely amazing,” said Crombie in the interview.
“It’s very exciting. Can you imagine of all the things to come and see when you’re in the GTA — the bustling downtown of Toronto, the CN Tower and then the pier in Mississauga. I think it’s just one of those must-see tourist attractions for our city. I think it would be wonderful.”
Lakeview Community Partners Limited is developing the 177-acre Lakeview Village site that will feature a mixed-use development of some 16,000 new homes (up, controversially, from an initial 8,050 units) and bring some 9,000 long-term jobs to Mississauga.
The new community will be built out over the next 15-20 years and will also include a state-of-the-art innovation district that aims to become “the largest hub for technology, innovation and research in Canada,” according to the developer.
It will rise up on the land where the Lakeview Generating Station and its four stacks once stood.
LCPL said earlier that the ambitious project will serve as a model for sustainable mixed-use developments across the country.
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