City of Richmond Hill dedicates Dave Barrow Square to long-serving mayor

Yorkregion.com
Sept. 20, 2022

Richmond Hill council dedicated Dave Barrow Square to the city’s long-serving mayor.

The square located east of Central Library -- which includes planted gardens and benches -- was dedicated to Barrow following the former mayor’s retirement in September 2021.

Etched into the concrete is the Dave Barrow quote “It’s all about community” and a plaque thanking the former mayor for his service to the city.  

“I am humbled by this dedication and I thank members of council and the city for their kindness and generosity. But truly, my greatest honour was in serving the Richmond Hill community. It meant the world to me,” the former mayor said at an official ceremony held in the afternoon of Sept. 15.

Barrow served the Richmond Hill community for more than 30 years since 1978 when he began his political career with his first term as ward 4 councillor.

He remained a councillor until 1985 when he returned to the family business after his father's (Elgin Barrow) death. He re-entered political life in 1997 by winning a regional council seat.

Barrow was first elected Mayor on Nov. 13, 2006 and was re-elected in 2010, 2014 and 2018.

During his last term on council, the former mayor announced his retirement “with a heavy heart” shortly after coming back from a six-month-long medical leave following his doctor’s advice.

The city’s press release lists a number of Barrow’s accomplishments, including the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal for his work in the community in 2012, the Rotary Club’s Paul Harris Fellow award.

In November 2018, Barrow through fundraising gifted Richmond Hill with the statue of “The Soldier” at the Cenotaph on Yonge Street. It has been one of the former mayor’s proudest moments, according to the release.

“Richmond Hill is better today for the decades of service put in by Dave Barrow. It’s wonderful that council has honoured him with Dave Barrow Square and on behalf of the City, both staff and the community, I’d like to say thank you Dave for all that you’ve done for us,” Darlene Joslin, Richmond Hill’s interim city manager, said.