City approves master plan for public art in Scarborough Centre

Apr 28 2018, 1:48 am

Scarborough has been approved for the first master public art plan of its kind in Toronto.

On Friday, Toronto City Council approved the Scarborough Centre Public Art Master Plan.

According to the city, the master plan will serve as an important and proactive guide in prioritizing public art sites (both publicly and privately owned) that offer the most potential and the greatest impact for public art opportunities in Scarborough Centre.

“This master plan recognizes the regional importance of Scarborough Centre and incorporates the aspirations of the local community,” said Mayor John Tory in a statement. “With the anticipated growth coming to this area of the city as we expand transit, we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create a vision for the highest quality urban community and public art is a huge part of that vision.”

The new art Master Plan is a tool to be used by city planners to assist in the identification of opportunities that engage with the private sector.

“The Scarborough Centre Public Art Master Plan is the first city-led public art master plan for the City of Toronto,” said Gregg Lintern, Toronto’s Chief Planner. “It is my goal that we use this Scarborough model as an example and that we develop more of these master plans to address public art strategically in other areas of the city.”

In 2012, City Council endorsed the Scarborough Centre Public Space and Streetscape Master Plan, a vision for the area known as Scarborough Centre, this area bounded by the 401, Markham Road, Ellesmere Road and Midland Avenue. The initial plan identified the need for a Scarborough Centre Public Art Plan that would inform the selection method, quality and location of new public art.

Scarborough Centre Public Art Master Plan

Following that, four years later in 2016, the City Planning division engaged consultants and began the work to produce this public art master plan.

“The master plan identifies several priority sites, and ensures that public art will be an integral component of public spaces, facilities, transit areas, and open spaces, contributing to the future success of this area,” said Mike Williams, General Manager, Economic Development and Culture.

The plan outlines various budget ranges, commissioning strategies and an implementation, maintenance and conservation strategy. City officials will be looking at the public art master plan every five years for updates that reflect policy changes and take advantage of all new opportunities.

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