City left holding bag on grand plaza plan
city hall bureau
The City of Toronto has quietly put aside plans to raise money from private donors to redesign Nathan Phillips Square.
The renovation of Toronto's signature plaza will go ahead, city officials say – but how quickly and at whose expense is less certain.
When the city approved the square's redesign 19 months ago after a high-profile international competition, councillors were told $25 million of the $42.7 million cost would come from private donations.
But the city's capital budget, released yesterday, shows that all the funds will come from the city.
Councillor Peter Milczyn, who has been quarterbacking the redesign, said fundraising was shelved after the city got discouraging signals about donor fatigue from its partnerships office, which co-ordinates public-private sector projects.
"The advice we got was: Don't go out with a big fundraising campaign, because it's going to be a flop," Milczyn said yesterday.
That's a turnaround from March 2007, when the city held a high-profile event in the City Hall lobby to announce the winning design.
"We're confident we'll be able to raise the money to complete it as it should be," Mayor David Miller said at the time.
"It should be magnificent. That's what we deserve in this city, and I think building a partnership with Torontonians is the way to do it."
A news release yesterday said the city has earmarked $22.2 million for the square, and a further $21.1 million will come from "reserve funds." It said nothing about private donations.
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