Comment 27379

By highwater (registered) | Posted November 21, 2008 at 14:20:19

I have to disagree with you here, Sean. James may be the commercial heart of downtown, but for better or worse, the civic heart is on Main with City Hall and its public square, Hamilton Place, the AGH, and the soon to be Education Square. Our civic buildings send a symbolic message about our values. Too often these days, citizens are viewed as consumers, public servants see themselves as delivering customer service instead of public service. Housing our City Hall in a shopping mall sends the message that we fully embrace the 'consumer' model of citizenship.

When Mississauga's Pomo barn of a City Hall was built, one of the biggest criticisms was the barriers surrounding the building that only allowed for small numbers of people to access the square at any one time (I believe that has since been rectified). This built-in deterrent to large gatherings was condemned as anti-democratic. If a small square with limited access is anti-democratic, what does it say when our City Hall is located on private property inside a shopping mall? Do you suppose citizens would be allowed to hold demonstrations in the food court? I imagine they would be escorted out by mall security in pretty short order. While I'm sure that the idea of having a private police force at their disposal might appeal to some of our elected officials, I think the idea of housing public services on private property is a very dangerous one indeed.

We need to recognize and cherish the symbolic importance of our public buildings and squares. And keep them public.

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