Coun. Mike McCann says his campaign to raise $200,000 for a Heart Barrie sign will begin in earnest July 1.
“I want to do this really professionally… and I want to roll it out to let everybody know this is happening, if you want to be a part of it,” he told BarrieToday on Thursday. “I want to prepare a… little video that will allow residents and companies to know exactly what my motivation is and start building some momentum.
“So I probably won’t be accepting any funds until mid-July, end of July, because I want to roll this out and give everybody an opportunity to be a part of it. Come the end of July, beginning of August, I’ll go really hard and I expect to wrap this up by Oct. 10," McCann added.
Which needs to happen since the Ward 10 councillor’s fundraising is the landmark signs only source of money.
McCann has said this project is intended to unite Barrie — to help businesses by driving residents and visitors to the downtown and have them celebrate the city by being photographed with the landmark sign.
Council gave final approval to the Heritage Park project June 14, along with McCann’s 100 per cent fundraising commitment by Oct. 10. The landmark sign would be no more than eight feet tall and installed by July 1, 2022.
But McCann is not finished with the fundraising particulars, and has two items for discussion on Monday night’s general committee agenda.
One is that a platinum level of sponsorship for the sign be established, with contributors of $25,000 or more being able to request involvement on the Heart Barrie sign working group.
McCann was asked if this didn’t look like contributors could buy their way onto the sign working group.
“I don’t look at it that way, and council may look at it that way and they may turn it down on Monday,” he said. “I just thought it would be an enhancement. Some people may want to donate and not have a seat at the table, and some people might want to send their HR (human resources person) or graphic artists, maybe their design person.
“I just thought it would be a nice gesture to say, 'Listen, if you’re one of the gold standard people that are putting up $25,000, that you get a seat at the table to pick the final design'.”
McCann said he didn’t expect some of the opposition to the sign and its design.
“I was shocked and surprised by Mayor (Jeff) Lehman’s remarks, that he was dead against the sign when the sign hasn’t even been finalized yet,” he said.
Lehman said June 14 there’s nothing special about the landmark sign’s design.
“I don’t think we should be doing what everybody else has already done,” the mayor said of other cities that have signs. “I don’t want us to be the same as everybody else; I want us to be better.”
But Lehman has said if the sign was approved by council, which it was, that he would support the project.
McCann’s second item for discussion Monday night is that any money raised on top of the $200,000, where no donation receipts have been issued, be donated to turtle and beaver awareness programs in Barrie.
“I’m a marketing expert, I’m a sales expert, and I felt like there was some negativity toward the sign maybe interfering with the landscape of the waterfront,” he said. “If there’s any money left over, I would like to help sponsor protecting the turtles and protecting the beavers. I thought this would be a good environmental (angle) and it’s a feel-good story and it makes the donors feel that this is a feel-good project. I think the bigger splash, the bigger impact would be helping to save the turtles and helping to save the beavers, the wildlife and I believe it’s a better way to market the sign and it feels better.
“The Love (Heart) Barrie sign is about connecting,” McCann added. “We can connect to Mother Nature and we can connect to our wildlife. It’s about connecting everything in our city.”
He was asked why any money raised beyond the $200,000 shouldn’t go to the estimated annual $15,000 graffiti removal and winter maintenance costs for the landmark sign.
“I think the city needs to have some responsibility. You can’t just leave the responsibility with the donors. This is ongoing,” McCann said. “I hope this sign lasts for 50 years, generations and generations.”
McCann said he already has commitments from companies and people for $50,000 to $80,000 toward the sign, although he held off on actual fundraising until council approved the project June 14.
If all of the fundraising commitment of $200,000 is not received by Oct. 10, 2021 – with 75 per cent of donations paid to the city by that date, staff would not proceed with a request for proposals (RFP) to design and manufacture the sign.
The project would instead be cancelled and any donations received would be returned to donors. Unlike other projects, this one does not have another funding source, so the city could not go to RFP until the funding is secured.
If 100 per cent of fundraising has been committed and 75 per cent of the $200,000 has been paid to the city by Oct. 10, 2021, the remaining 25 per cent would need to be paid to the city by March 31, 2022.
Oct. 10, 2021 was chosen to provide enough time for staff to issue an RFP and select a vendor to design, fabricate and install the sign before July 1, 2022.
Staff will report back to city council in a memo in October 2021 on the amount of donations received, whether the project is moving forward and next steps.
To make the sign unique, it could be wrapped with public art to create a unique sign reflecting the community. This would provide a way for the landmark sign to showcase the uniqueness of Barrie and help to draw people back to the sign for multiple visits.
The estimated timeline for the project is that it would take roughly four months from design to installation, be constructed from steel and aluminum and have a coating applied to assist with graffiti removal. It would be lit with LED lights, which would require little power and have minimal energy costs.
