'History that belongs to the entire city': city will pay for mural relocation

Community input will be gathered after council recommended murals be relocated to Patterson Park in Windsor's west end.

Murals honouring prominent people in Windsor's Black community were taken down in December, after a few residents were concerned the new owner of a grocery store would get rid of them.

The murals were handed over to the City of Windsor for safekeeping and a process began to determine where they should be housed. Patterson Park was approved, pending community discussion.

Coun. Fabio Costantetweeted his thanks to council for supporting the relocation of the murals to Patterson Park.

Murals important to Sandwich community

Delegates spoke about the history of the murals and their importance to the Sandwich community.

"There are many more stories that could, and in fact should, be told," said one delegate about the murals. "We talk about the first black detective, the first black judge in Canada. Sandwich Towne is the engine that had so much to do with the growth of people of colour who have gone on to do great things."

Another delegate said their grandfather was represented on one of the murals and it would be important to her family for the murals to have a home again.

"Canada is known as a place in the world where black people could create a life after coming through some rough circumstances," saidanother delegate,adding that it was history people in Windsor should know about.

Former city councillor Ron Jones spoke about the effect Patterson Park has on the neighbourhood.

"There's a good amount of space there," said Jones, thanking council for allocating resources to the park a few years ago to improve pathways and drainage.

"The depth of the park would accommodate the opportunity to host [the murals] on the north side of the park and not interfere with sight lines where people would live."

Motion to use city budget passes

One recommendation on the table was to use ward funds for the relocation. In the proposal involving ward funds, Kusmierczyk and Coun. Ed Sleimanhadoffered Ward 7 and Ward 5 funds as support as well.

Coun. Rino Bortolin called it a "worthwhile" project, but mentioned concerns about ward funds and suggested city budget be used instead.

Another recommendation was to use the capital expenditure reserve fund, which are ad hoc funds that can be used for whatever capital budget items are approved at council's discretion.

Ultimately, the decision was made to support the relocation from the city budget, rather than from ward funds.

"This is not an issue of Sandwich Towne in my opinion, this is a city-wide issue," said Bortolin. "We should be celebrating the history of these murals."

Bortolin wants council to look at a reserve fund for maintenance and support of public art assets in the future.

Coun. IrekKusmierczyk said the murals were something the city should be proud of.

"The history that these murals represent is the history not just of Sandwich Towne, but the history that belongs to the entire city."