LOOKING AHEAD 2023: Aurora Town Square, a vibrant community hub, aims for December 2023 completion

Excitement builds for downtown gathering place, but some question long-term costs

Yorkregion.com
Jan. 9, 2023
Mellissa Wallace

This time next year, you could be skating, attending a concert, enjoying an art exhibit, lounging with a book in a “reading garden,” or meeting with friends, all at Aurora Town Square.

With an estimated completion date of December 2023, Town Square is being constructed at the parking lots and land between the Aurora Public Library and the Church Street School at Yonge, Mosley, Church and Victoria streets.

As a key piece in the revitalization of the downtown core, the concept of a Town Square has been discussed and challenged among councils past and present for decades and is finally coming to fruition.

“The vision behind this is a gathering space in the core of town where residents and visitors can get together,” said Phil Rose, the town’s manager of cultural services. “On top of that, we want to have innovative community recreation and cultural programs.

“We want this to be a place that will also support existing businesses or attract new business, part of the refresh of our downtown.”

The Town Square project includes: a 29,000-square-foot outdoor community square with a skating track in the winter and water feature in the summer; a 32,000-square-foot addition to the Church Street School facility, featuring a flexible performance hall with seating for up to 250 patrons in theatre style and a variety of new multi-purpose arts programming spaces; the permanent artifact collection of the Aurora Museum and Archives in an environmentally controlled storage space; a new multi-purpose performing arts studio, visual arts studio and program room; a new entrance and other new public spaces at the Aurora Public Library including a reading garden, which will make it more accessible and user-friendly.

“The next part of the project is finishing the bridge and the outdoor square, which we’ll probably complete by late spring and make available to the public when ready,” said Rose. “The feedback we’re getting from the community, especially those that live within the vicinity of the project, is that they’re extremely excited to have a gathering place and for all the amenities we’ll be able to provide.”

To mitigate disruptions to neighbours, Rose says town representatives have gone door-to-door to listen and manage concerns about dust, debris, and noise. Meetings and information sessions have also kept residents updated.

The town’s proposed capital budget for 2023 allocates $51.9 million toward the completion of Town Square. While many residents and organizations support the project, other groups such as the Regency Acres and Golf Glen Ratepayers Association have their reservations.

“We continue to have real concerns about time delays, cost increases, lack of a formal business plan, and lack of buy-in from key community organizations,” said Chris Ballard, association president and Newmarket-Aurora’s former MPP. “This is seen as a white elephant that will burden Aurora taxpayers for generations to come.”

Efforts to bring concerns to decision-makers have been fruitless, he says, but he still encourages citizens to have conversations and hold their elected officials accountable. “Let’s face it, the horse is out of the barn and there's no reining it in,” he said. “What we can do is ensure that a proper business plan is put in place so that costs to operate this facility are curtailed.

“It’s not the purchase price that gets you, it's the ongoing upkeep and operational costs that really hit you, and that's what we're really worried about.”

So far, the town has received donations of $1.3 million of its $5 million goal, as part of the first phase of the capital fundraising campaign. Donors can choose available naming opportunities to support Town Square facilities at https://ourtownsquare.ca.

To keep up to date on Town Square developments, visit https://engageaurora.ca/auroratownsquare.