30 Oct That’s a Wrap on Colour the Square
A lot has happened since we last updated you on the Colour the Square campaign. A quick recap: Colour the Square was a six-month engagement and awareness campaign to help Celebration Square reach its full potential. Located in the Town of Whitby, 90 minutes outside of Toronto, Celebration Square is a beautiful, yet under-utilized public space adjacent to the Town’s main library branch. 8 80 Cities set out to engage the community in the conversation on how the Town could make Celebration Square a popular destination year-round.
The conversations with Whitby residents and Town staff culminated in our final report which summarized the more than 1700 ideas we received from over 700 residents through 5 pop-up engagement hubs and two community workshops. The report laid out a roadmap for short and long-term improvements to the square. Based on these recommendations, 8 80 Cities and the Town launched the Fresh Air in the Square campaign, a summer-long pilot that brought free children and senior friendly programming to the square, combined with an eight-week long public life study. Despite the often stormy weather, the pilot program was a huge success, fostering new community love for and connection to Celebration Square.
Both the Colour and Fresh Air campaigns have proved beyond question the potential for Celebration Square to be a community hub and destination in Downtown Whitby. The Town is moving forward with many initiatives based on our findings, including the relocation of the Whitby Farmer’s Market to the square, lengthening the holiday season lighting and programming schedule, on-going free, recreational, all-ages-friendly classes, and installation of upgraded seating, lighting and other comfort-based infrastructure.
It has been such a joy getting to work with committed and passionate Town staff and we are so excited to see all the changes coming to Celebration Square over the next year. It’s been a blast, Whitby!