{"id":29464,"date":"2021-06-10T17:36:35","date_gmt":"2021-06-10T21:36:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=29464"},"modified":"2021-06-10T18:12:56","modified_gmt":"2021-06-10T22:12:56","slug":"town-square-could-be-councils-preferred-name-for-library-square","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/town-square-could-be-councils-preferred-name-for-library-square\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cTown Square\u201d could be Council\u2019s preferred name for Library Square"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It has been dubbed \u201cLibrary Square\u201d for nearly 40 years, but the $60 million downtown revitalization project could be officially re-named \u201cTown Square\u201d as early as the end of the month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Town Square was one of four contenders to be presented to Council, sitting at the Committee level last week, following public consultation. Other candidates included Church Street Square, Constellation Square, and Aurora Junction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A final decision could be ratified as early as June 29.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through a public poll, Town Square came out on top with over 800 votes, according to Library Square project manager Phil Rose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Council members have given \u201cTown Square\u201d a tentative go-ahead, it wasn\u2019t without question, with some lawmakers saying the name was \u201cbasic\u201d and there might be better options out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn 2018, when we had gone to the public with Place Speak, the concept of what was envisioned for Library Square and designs were pretty much in its infancy, a completely different take,\u201d said Councillor Rachel Gilliland. \u201cThings have evolved and changed so much since then, but now that plans are in place and we have a fulsome understanding of what it\u2019s supposed to represent, perhaps going to the public and getting [input] that maybe internally we never thought of \u2013 it is a really, really big project and it would behove me to go back to the public and get some more feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI really feel we can do better. I find [the name] very basic and not overly special, but that is my opinion. I like the idea of\u2026going to the public and getting some names. I don\u2019t really see it as a rush.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the perspective of Mr. Rose, however, there were some time-sensitive elements, not the least of which was having a name in place sooner rather than later to help with capital fundraising, including securing donors and sponsors to complete the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to be able to say, \u2018You\u2019re giving money to\u2026\u2019 whatever the name of the facility is, rather than you\u2019re giving money for a facility that has yet to be named,\u201d said Mr. Rose. \u201cIt does give us an advantage if we have a name for a facility when we seek sponsors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the options on the table is the idea of a name for the entire facility, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor example, if we have a prospective sponsor\u2026if we were to give that out as a naming right, it would combine nicely with the final name for this facility. We would love to be able to have a name that can go out with a bit more confidence, but at the same time, it is not something that would put the brakes on the capital campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Councillor Michael Thompson said he was \u201ccomfortable\u201d going back out to the public for further potential names as long as it didn\u2019t hinder the capital campaign, as did Councillor Gilliland who contended there was enough information on the table to push forward with fundraising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re selling the idea, the concept of the design, I think we have plenty of design, concept and inspiration [put forward] to get potential people to philanthropically donate, if that is the model we\u2019re going for,\u201d she said. \u201cI just don\u2019t see that that is a challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, regardless of the capital campaign, the \u201cTown Square\u201d name had its supporters, including Councillors Sandra Humfryes and Wendy Gaertner, with the latter stating the proposed name just missed the mark and should include the word \u201cAurora\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think we want this to be a destination, and by calling it just \u2018Town Square\u2019 it could be anywhere in North America,\u201d said Councillor Gaertner. \u201cI think \u2018Aurora\u2019 needs to be in there somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Town Square was also the preferred option for Mayor Tom Mrakas, although he expressed similar sentiments to Councillor Gaertner\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAurora Town Square speaks to exactly what it is and the majority of the public picked it. They like it,\u201d he said. \u201c[They can say] \u2018See you at AT Square\u2019 or \u2018See you at ATS.\u2019 I think it is catchy, it speaks to what it is, it speaks to the fact we are a Town and we\u2019re small with big city amenities. I think it is all wrapped in there. I think if we were to change it to anything but \u2018Library Square\u2019 that is probably the only name I would be okay moving to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir<\/strong>
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/em><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It has been dubbed \u201cLibrary Square\u201d for nearly 40 years, but the $60 million downtown revitalization project could be officially re-named \u201cTown Square\u201d as early as the end of the month. Town Square was one of four contenders to be presented to Council, sitting at the Committee level last week, following public consultation. Other candidates […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-7Fe","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-22 19:51:30","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29464\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}