City Hall memories
I was determined to make it to the 25th anniversary of Kitchener City Hall celebrations on Monday, but had to work until after 4 p.m. So by the time I got there the speeches were over and the crowds had dispersed.
Outside, a podium and chairs were set up but empty. There were displays in the rotunda, but scarcely anyone present to see them. I started to fear that the whole thing may have been a bust. It was a relief to read in the paper the next morning that the festivities had gone according to plan.
The editorial that followed is in line with my thoughts on the subject. It is entirely fitting that people turned up in large numbers to mark the silver anniversary of City Hall: “architectural jewel … vital symbol of local democracy … source of civic pride … community meeting place … Kitchener would simply not be the city it is today without it.”
I’m sorry I missed the main proceedings, but arriving late was advantageous in at least one respect: It allowed a few moments of quiet reflection about what all this means to me personally.
I don’t remember the official ribbon-cutting ceremonies that happened on September 17, 1993. For me, the event that matters took place in conjunction with the opening: a conference in the freshly opened spaces of City Hall called “Visions ’93.”
Organized by council and the mayor at the time, Dom Cardillo, Visions ’93 was about the future of the city with emphasis its troubled original civic centre and business district.
Attendance was by invitation. I’d never been involved in anything like this before, and had just returned after being out of the country for three years, so I wasn’t on the list. But by chance, I ended up tagging along with someone who was.
As the conference unfolded, I underwent something like a conversion experience: It struck me, quite suddenly, that this was interesting, challenging and important: A major Canadian urban centre was visibly ailing in a profound way, for reasons that weren’t readily discernible, and with no solution in sight. From there, I made a rapid transition from resident to citizen.
Councillor Mike Wagner invited me to what became my first involvement. Hearing that I had a background in history, he encouraged me to serve on the City’s LACAC — Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee — now called Heritage Kitchener.
An interest in downtown revitalization soon led to connections with various arts-related endeavours. It was a natural fit: on the one hand, a district that had lost its traditional purpose with millions of square feet of abandoned space, and on the other, emerging projects with clear purpose, fresh energies, capable leadership, and an urgent need for safe, suitable, secure and affordable space for making and presenting work.
My first arts-related commitment was to the Friends of St. Jerome’s. They knew the space they wanted: an Edwardian era theatre in the vacant St. Jerome’s High School complex. That didn’t happen, but the ultimate outcome, after many twists and turns, includes The Registry Theatre, Conrad Centre for the Performing Arts and Createscape Waterloo Region.
Becoming part of the Globe Studios project came next, as treasurer on this freshly incorporated body’s first active board.
A key factor in all this is the extraordinary openness that characterizes this community. If you want to be involved, there’s a place for you.