Does Barrie have $200,000 worth of heart?
Coun. Mike McCann wants to spend that amount — $50,000 fund-raised by himself — on a landmark sign for people to pose with and post on social media.
He will ask for Barrie councillors’ support at Monday night’s meeting.
“The sign is intended to unite the city,” McCann said. “It will help businesses by driving residents and visitors to our downtown and have them celebrate our city. We don’t have a distinct Barrie landmark sign within our city and the other places that have done this have had a very positive result, (for) example, Ottawa, Kingston, Toronto.”
The Ward 10 councillor said he’d like to see the Barrie sign in Meridian Place, in the downtown, as a central meeting point in the city.
McCann said Friday the response has been good so far.
“I have been able to raise $50,000 in less than 24 hours, so I would say that shows that our community is super supportive” he said. “On my recently launched Facebook page Mike McCann Loves Barrie, 95 per cent of the responses were supportive and excited to have this installation.
“I know we are in a pandemic, but we need to start thinking about recovery and doing what we can to encourage residents and visitors to shop local in our downtown.”
Funding for this sign is proposed to come from fundraising and then the remaining from the reinvestment reserve and the municipal accommodation tax, McCann said.
“So not directly from the taxpayer,” he said. “This project is a home run in my eyes, and I hope council will support the idea as well.”
McCann’s motion is an item for discussion on Monday’s general committee agenda. It asks that city staff investigate the feasibility of procuring a landmark sign (‘heart icon’ Barrie) to bring the city together and encourage residents and tourists to capture memories and share them on social media.
The proposed sign would be bold and have Lake Simcoe in the backdrop; it would be six to 10 feet high and incorporate basic colours and effects so that the lights could be changed in recognition of special occasions. Staff would report back to councillors after this investigation.
Following completion of a competitive bid process, and once a preferred vendor is selected, a working group would be established, including Mayor Jeff Lehman and Couns. Robert Thomson and McCann, the vendor and city staff to select the sign’s final design, its location and installation timelines, with a goal of being ready by October 2021, and report back to councillors by memo.
The sign’s cost would not exceed $200,000, with $50,000 of that amount to be fund-raised by McCann, and the remaining $150,000 be funded from the city’s reinvestment reserve and the municipal accommodation tax, the motion says.
