Selwyn Township and the County of Peterborough have entered into a new contact for the rental of 12 Queen Street (the Old Post Office) in Lakefield.
On November 24, the County of Peterborough informed the township that they would no longer need use of the second floor at the Old Post Office.
In 2024, the County entered a pilot lease with the township set at a rental rate of $28,800 annually or $2,400 monthly for the bottom level and two offices on the second level. The County used the space for Economic Development and Tourism teams. The County also subletted a shared office space to the Peterborough & Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce and Community Futures Peterborough.
In late 2025, both the Chamber of Commerce and Community Futures Peterborough gave the County notice that they would not be continuing their lease agreements.
According to a report presented by Ian Mudd, Director of Planning, Development and Public Works to the Economic Development Advisory Committee last year, he recommended that only the first floor of the Old Post office be leased by the County moving forward.
Mudd’s report stated that while the first floor functions well for the Tourism/Communications division, staff were questioning the need to continue with leasing office space on the second floor.
His report said that the Economic Development division has been delivering services in the Townships and has received very little “walk-in” traffic at the Lakefield location. He stated that by the very nature of its work, Economic Development staff find themselves meeting with business clients at their business locations. Rolling out various programs for clients has a greater effectiveness and level of attendance when it is delivered close to their business (in the various Townships).
The Tourism and Communications department is also evaluating the usefulness of the position and is debating whether they should stay in Lakefield or consider alternative options such as:
• Delivering visitor/information services at the Lakefield Hub for the duration of one year (Mon. - Fri. year-round; Mon. - Sat. May to August).
• Developing a comprehensive visitor services training program.
• Creating visitor-facing resources (maps, rack cards, POS materials, digital assets).
• Implementing a comprehensive tracking system for transactions and interactions to measure Key Performance indicators.
• Delivering visitor services staff training to Lang Pioneer Village, and the Havelock Visitor Kiosk summer student.
• Supporting the Chamber of Commerce in hiring and resourcing the visitor kiosk in Havelock and the Welcome Centre in Buckhorn.
• Distributing resources to Township offices and First Nations communities.
At the Dec. 9 Selwyn Council meeting, council approved a new lease agreement with the County for the lower level only on a month-to-month basis while the County decided how best to move forward.
The new lease would be at a rate of $1,800.00 + HST per month on a month-to-month basis for the main floor, which includes items currently set out in the existing lease agreement such as:
• Heat, hydro, water and sewer
• Shared parking
• Internet
• Parking lot snow removal and grass cutting
• Basic building maintenance
• Insurance (building, contents etc.) to protect the asset
• Monitored security
The County will continue to manage cleaning services of the building on their leased main floor, the public washrooms and the common areas on the main floor.
According to a report presented to council in December, this rate is intended to address the Township’s operational expenses. They do not intend to charge a commercial market rate to the County for this space.
A new lease agreement would be made should the County wish to stay in the space past December 2026 which would account for annual inflationary adjustments would apply.
As the township office located at 1310 Centre Line is currently being used to the max, the upper level of the Old Post Office would be utilized by township staff once the County vacates the space after their 90 days (around February 20, 2026).
The County will continue to rent the lower level of the building from the township month-to-month. They are currently reviewing their Communications and Tourism Department to determine if the space in Lakefield will continue to be a benefit or if they will change their model of service at a later date.
