Editing Barrie (section)

=== 21st century ===
On January 12, 2004, the former [[Molson Brewery|Molsons plant]] was found to be home to an illegal marijuana grow-op housing an estimated 30,000 marijuana plants with an estimated street value of $30 million (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=30000000|start_year=2004}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}); at the time, it was the largest marijuana grow-op bust in Canada's history.

Barrie's [[Park Place (Ontario)|Park Place]] (formerly Molson Park) was chosen to host [[live8|Live 8]] Canada on July 2, 2005.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1119352066774_150 |title=Barrie, Ont. to host Canadian edition of Live 8 |access-date=September 14, 2006 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051226043121/http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1119352066774_150 |archive-date=December 26, 2005 }}</ref> The overall success of the concert helped support a plan to convert the former [[Molson Park]] lands into a commercial district. Construction of Park Place began in 2008 but was temporarily interrupted by the [[Great Recession]] and an [[Ontario Municipal Board]] (OMB) appeal that proposed a rezoning of the Park Place lands that was initially denied by the City of Barrie. Construction resumed in 2010.

[[File:July 15th Tornado Barrie1.jpg|thumb|July 15, 2021, tornado damage]]

An explosion in the Royal Thai restaurant, housed in the landmark Wellington Hotel at the "Five Points" intersection in downtown Barrie, occurred at 11:20pm on December 6, 2007. The fire quickly spread to several neighbouring buildings and firefighters battled the blaze well into the following morning, requiring assistance from other Simcoe County fire services. Officials estimated the damages to be in the millions. The 100-year-old Wellington Hotel building collapsed later in the morning.<ref name="canada.com">{{cite web   |url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=4f3ddae9-5044-4f4d-a4fb-7adee1d63299&k=71332 |title=Massive blaze destroys six buildings in Barrie |date=December 7, 2007 |access-date=December 7, 2007| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071209023032/http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=4f3ddae9-5044-4f4d-a4fb-7adee1d63299&k=71332| archive-date= December 9, 2007 |url-status = live |last1=Service |first1=Canwest News }}</ref><ref name="ctv.ca">{{cite web |title=Fire destroys historic buildings in Barrie, Ont. |url=http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20071207/barrie_fire_071207/20071207?hub=TorontoHome |date=December 7, 2007 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071210055740/http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20071207/barrie_fire_071207/20071207?hub=TorontoHome| archive-date= December 10, 2007 |url-status = dead}}</ref> On February 17, 2008, two people were charged in connection with the fire after the Ontario Fire Marshal's office concluded the explosion and subsequent fire were the result of arson.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pair charged in Barrie fire had ties to destroyed restaurant |url=http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2008/02/18/pf-4856783.html|publisher=Canoe.ca CNEWS|access-date=February 4, 2011|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709132558/http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2008/02/18/pf-4856783.html|archive-date=July 9, 2012|url-status = usurped}}</ref>

In 2013, Barrie was [[Sister city|twinned]] with the English town of [[Harrogate]] as a result of Sir Robert Barrie's close connection to it.<ref>{{Cite web |title=International Partnership Between City of Barrie, Canada and the Harrogate District |url=http://www.harrogate.gov.uk/pages/International-partnership-between-City-of-Barrie,-Canada-and-the-Harrogate-district.aspx |publisher=Harrogate Borough Council |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140802062642/http://www.harrogate.gov.uk/pages/International-partnership-between-City-of-Barrie,-Canada-and-the-Harrogate-district.aspx|url-status=live| archive-date=August 2, 2014}}</ref>

On July 15, 2021, a tornado struck neighbourhoods in south Barrie, leaving several people injured and causing serious damage to property.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/tornado-warning-environment-canada-1.6104484 |title='Catastrophic' damage in Barrie, Ont., after tornado hits leaving several injured |publisher=[[CBC News]] |date=July 15, 2021}}</ref>  Environment Canada categorized it as an EF2 on the [[Enhanced Fujita scale]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rodrigues |first1=Gabby |title=Environment Canada confirms EF-2 tornado with 210 km/h winds touched down in Barrie |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/8033046/tornado-ef2-barrie-ontario-storm/ |publisher=[[Global News]] |date=July 16, 2021}}</ref>