Bradford's strategic projects committee is hoping to give residents a reason to celebrate.
Council approved the committee’s request Nov. 7 to bring a design for Celebration Square to draft 2024 budget deliberations in January. The committee has also recommended Concept 2 — a proposal that aims to take the roughly 6,000-sq.-m open lawn directly to the west of the Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library and transform it into a permanent public square and event space.
The lawn is already used for public events like Music in the Park, Outdoor Movies and festivities for days of importance like National Indigenous Peoples Day.
To that end, during their recent meeting, the committee chose from three design options, presented by Terry Foran, director of community services, all of which featured:
- covering the lawn with brushed concrete
- an open central area
- an event stage
- scored concrete walkways
- year-round seating
- additional tree plantings
- additional gardens
The main differences between the designs are:
- Concept 1 — also features a shade structure and water fountain; estimated cost is $2.37 million
- Concept 2 — also features an interactive water walk; estimated cost is $2.57 million
- Concept 3 — features a larger stage and event space, with greater emphasis on more gardens instead of a water feature; estimated cost is $2.2 million
Both concepts 1 and 2 place the stage in the northwest corner, meaning guests of summer events would be looking toward the sun in the evenings.
Five different stage design options were included in the report, but none were specified in the recommendation to council.
Ward 5 Coun. Peter Ferragine praised all of the concepts, but suggested a hard surface that large would require more greenery and shade structures.
“With all that concrete, you’re going to deal with a lot of heat,” he said.
Foran explained full hardscaping offers the most flexibility and versatility for different uses, including a potential future location for the farmers’ market, and is more capable of accommodating vehicle traffic for loading or unloading at some events.
Ward 4 Coun. Joseph Giordano also stressed the need for accessibility, noting the current lawn poses problems for residents with mobility issues.
While he acknowledged the need for accessibility, Ferragine suggested adding more shade structures, even temporary ones, to the initial design to increase the comfort of the square while the planned trees grow and mature.
“I want to make sure that when we do this, we do it right,” he said.
Giordano suggested those options could be considered at budget time.
