{"id":34295,"date":"2024-02-29T12:20:37","date_gmt":"2024-02-29T17:20:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=34295"},"modified":"2024-02-29T12:20:39","modified_gmt":"2024-02-29T17:20:39","slug":"town-square-timeline-park-development-announced-in-mayors-address","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/town-square-timeline-park-development-announced-in-mayors-address\/","title":{"rendered":"Town Square timeline, park development announced in Mayor\u2019s address"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Aurora will see a full week of celebrations this fall for the grand opening of Aurora Town Square.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mayor Tom Mrakas announced a fall opening for the expansive, multi-million-dollar downtown revitalization project last week as part of his annual address to the business community hosted by the Aurora Chamber of Commerce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to a general opening date for Town Square, the Mayor also began to outline the Town\u2019s vision for a 16-acre parcel of greenspace in Aurora\u2019s southwest, the purchase of which was announced last December, for parkland development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re so close to finishing Town Square,\u201d said Mayor Mrakas at the Royal Venetian Mansion on Industrial Parkway South on February 21. \u201cI know the community has waited a long time for this \u2013 actually, two decades, in fact. I wish we had done it sooner, but with virtually all building and infrastructure projects in the past few years post-pandemic, there was a lot that was simply out of control and, as everyone knows, with regards to labour and supply issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am excited to announce today for the very first time that our official grand opening of Town Square is taking place this coming fall. This week\u2019s long celebration is going to give community members the chance to experience everything that Town Square has to offer. Town Square really will add so much to our community \u2013 a place where people can watch a show, do a class, grab a coffee, go for a skate or a splash \u2013 right here in our wonderful downtown. A real central community hub. I thank everyone for their patience as we work hard to finish this project.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Aurora Town Square project, he said, will be key in downtown revitalization, a vision he said was \u201creally important\u201d to him as \u201call great communities have vibrant downtowns.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also integral in this sense of community is an array of \u201crecreation and arts and culture offerings\u201d which he said gives communities like Aurora \u201ca competitive advantage, attracting people to come live in Aurora, attracting more business owners because they (businesses) want to open in a place with strong programs and services for their own families and for their employee families, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The acquisition of green space, he noted, could contribute well to these key recreation opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur outdoor spaces are so important to people\u2019s mental and physical health,\u201d he said. \u201cI am really proud our incredible Parks staff maintain 475 hectares of parkland and 62km of trails\u2026. I was thrilled to announce in December that Council approved the acquisition of [a] 16-acre property on the west side of Yonge Street just north of Wood Haven. Our vision is for this land to become a huge new public park and we will be engaging with community members on what they want to see there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis acquisition is part of a larger strategy we have to address our parkland deficit. Please stay tuned for a lot more in regards to the strategy and more exciting news to share in the coming year\u2026. Protecting and expanding our outdoor spaces is something community members want. It sets us apart and it makes this an attractive place for businesses in Town.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Aurora will see a full week of celebrations this fall for the grand opening of Aurora Town Square. Mayor Tom Mrakas announced a fall opening for the expansive, multi-million-dollar downtown revitalization project last week as part of his annual address to the business community hosted by the Aurora Chamber of Commerce. In addition to a […]<\/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-34295","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\/p3D2k4-8V9","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-17 09:11:45","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\/34295","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=34295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34295\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}