Heritage and Culture

The Rose Theatre Fountain Stage Brampton's Garden Square, facing Main St. North The Rose Theatre along with Main St. and Queen St. as seen in a panorama of downtown Brampton

There are several cultural entities in the city under the umbrella of the Brampton Arts Council. These include Visual Arts Brampton, the Brampton Historical Society and the Brampton Symphony Orchestra. Also in the city is the Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives (PAMA, formerly the Peel Heritage Complex), which is run by the Region of Peel.

The Rose Theatre (originally the Brampton Performing Arts Centre), billed as "a cultural and tourist destination that will attract significant new business to surrounding restaurants, shops and services", opened in September 2006. The City says that the facilities are expected to generate $2.7 million in economic activity the first year and grow to $19.8 million by the fifth year. Despite some cynicism, the Rose Theatre attracted over 137,000 patrons in its inaugural year, surpassing its original five-year goal. Since then, numerous new businesses have opened in the vicinity of the theatre and its Garden Square, where a new Fountain Stage was unveiled in June 2008.

Brampton has six libraries to serve its half-million residents. At one library per over 80,000 residents, it is the lowest library ratio among major Canadian cities.

The City of Brampton's long-standing heritage conservation program was recognized with the 2011 Lieutenant Governor's Ontario Heritage Award for Community Leadership through the Ontario Heritage Trust. In 2010 the City received an 'honourable mention' under the same provincial awards program.

Sites of interest Gage Park Artway Gallery Camp Naivelt Chinguacousy Park-Greenhouse and gardens Mount Chinguacousy Claireville Conservation Area Flower City Theatre Festival Formula Kartways Great War Flying Museum Heart Lake Conservation Area Brampton Historical Society Historic Bovaird House Korea Veterans' National Wall of Remembrance Ontario Field of Honour Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives Powerade Centre Rose Theatre South Fletchers Sportsplex Wild Water Kingdom

Major shopping areas include Bramalea City Centre, Shoppers World, and "big box centre" Trinity Common Mall. The downtown area has some retail, the Centennial Mall and the Brampton Mall are also of note.

Media Main article: Media in Peel

Brampton was one of the first areas Rogers Cable offered its service in. As a result, it started a community access channel in the 1970s, which is still operational today. While some programs on the channel are produced in their Brampton studios, most are headquartered out of their Mississauga location.

The Brampton Guardian is the community's only newspaper after Brampton's original newspaper, The Daily Times, stopped circulation in the early 1980s. For a little over a year, The Brampton Bulletin attempted to challenge the Guardian, but it was dismantled after a series of editor changes.

Brampton is also the official city of license for two radio stations, CIAO and CFNY, although both stations target their programming toward the entire Greater Toronto Area rather than exclusively to Brampton.

Sports and recreation Main article: Sports in Brampton, Ontario Sports teams of Brampton Club League Sport Venue Established Championships Brampton Battalion OHL hockey Powerade Centre 1998 0 Brampton Capitals Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League hockey Brampton Memorial Arena 1984 4 Bramalea Blues Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League hockey Powerade Centre 1972 1 Brampton Excelsiors Major Series Lacrosse Senior "A" Lacrosse League. lacrosse Powerade Centre 1912 30 Brampton Thunder Canadian Women's Hockey League hockey Powerade Centre 1999 0 Junior Excelsiors OLA Junior A Lacrosse League lacrosse Brampton Memorial Arena 1971 4 Brampton Royals Central Ontario Baseball Association Baseball Dave Dash Memorial Field 1948 3 Brampton United Canadian Soccer League Soccer Victoria Park 2002 1 Brampton Daredevils Cricket Club EDCL Cricket Creditview A 2010 1

There are many sporting venues and activities, including the outdoor ice path for skating through Gage Park and the ski lift at Chinguacousy Park. Chinguacousy Park also has as a Curling Club and Tennis Centre. In the summer, amateur softball leagues abound, and crowds line the beaches at Professor's Lake for the annual outdoor shagging display.

Every year since 1967, the Brampton Canadettes have hosted the Brampton Canadettes Easter Tournament. Women's and girls' hockey teams invade Brampton for 3½ days of head-to-head competition. Teams of all ages and categories from across Canada and the United States compete in this annual tournament. Teams from England, Switzerland, Japan, Kazakhstan and Russia attend this international tournament. Thousands of players and spectators pass through the doors during the tournament. There is no limit on the number of teams in a division.

The Intermediate AA and Midget AA divisions are highly scouted by local and United States colleges and universities seeking recruits for varsity teams. Teams from as far as Alaska and Calgary, Quebec and Carolina, Michigan and Minnesota, as well as virtually all hockey centres in Ontario, will compete in a minimum of 3 games each over the course of the tournament. Including championship finals, over 600 games are played in just 3½ days. For the best in hockey tournament competition, Brampton is second-to-none in the world of women's and girls' hockey.