Molson Brewery
On January 12, 2004, the former Molson Brewery in south Barrie was found to be home to an illegal marijuana grow-op housing an estimated 30,000 marijuana plants with an estimated street value of $30 million; at the time, it was the largest marijuana grow-op bust in Canada's history. Barrie's Park Place (formerly Molson Park) was chosen to host Live 8 Canada on July 2, 2005. The overall success of the concert contributed to a plan to convert the prior Molson Park lands into a commercial district.