Dance, Dine, Play: A New Vision for Barrie’s Central Waterfront

Centennial Park — already home to a beach, open lawns, walking trails, and some of Barrie's best lakefront views — is ready for its next chapter.

The Centennial Park Food and Activity Hub will introduce new food experiences, gathering spaces, and activity areas organized around three zones: Dance, Dine, and Play.

Centennial Park is the heart of Barrie's waterfront — a beloved gathering place where the city comes to celebrate, unwind, and connect with Lake Simcoe. The Food and Activity Hub builds on that foundation, imagining a new kind of destination at the water's edge: one that draws people in throughout the season, creates real economic opportunity for local food producers and entrepreneurs, and deepens the park's role as a place where everyday life and community celebration happen side by side. This project is about more than amenities — it's about strengthening what makes Barrie's waterfront worth coming back to.

This project is a key recommendation from the 2023 Waterfront Strategic Plan, which identified Centennial Beach as a priority location for new food services and public activity along Barrie's waterfront. Following public consultation and concept refinement, detailed design and construction are planned to start in 2027, pending future Council capital budget approvals.

The project team will also be hosting in-person pop ups to collect community feedback on this project. Dates and times will be announced as they are confirmed.

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The City has developed two preliminary design concepts for the future Centennial Park Food and Activity Hub. Each concept proposes different ways of organizing the park space around three waterfront experiences: dance, dine, and play. Together, these themes will create a lively and welcoming destination that supports everyday park use while providing space for events, food, and activity.