A plan by the Guelph Police Services Board to add a statue outside the newly-renovated police headquarters will shift to asking for donations after the City of Guelph denied a $150,000 request for the project.
The proposed public art piece is intended to celebrate the partnerships between the community and Guelph Police and is planned to be built just outside the new main entrance to the headquarters on Wyndham Street, said Don Drone, former Guelph Police Services Board chair.
Even before the request came denied back from the city’s finance department, Drone said the board realized a statue of that size was too big for the planned area outside the headquarters and scaled the project back.
Drone said a new $50,000 target budget has been assigned to the project, which he is leading despite retiring from the board earlier this year.
“Because of the letter and because of COVID it would be inappropriate at this point to go forward seeking city money for this,” said Drone.
Drone noted the headquarters renovation started almost a decade ago and he felt the completion was a good opportunity to celebrate that partnership.
“There are a number of sculptures in the downtown core over the last number of years that we believe enrich the public space. This is really all about enriching the public space of the community and talking about the community and the police service,” said Drone.
Local artists will be asked to participate through a call for submissions.
“It might end up being a traditional representation, it might be a more abstract one. I have no idea what it will be and it certainly won’t be my call, it will be decided by committee,” said Drone.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, a request was made by the board seeking $150,000 for the project. Drone said that number was originally based on the cost of the John McCrae statue that was built next to the Guelph Civic Museum.
“We were asking if at the end of the fiscal year if there were any unexpended money in any of the accounts, would there be a possibility of directing some of those dollars toward that project,” said Drone.
Earlier this month, the board heard back from Tara Baker, the city’s treasurer and GM of its finance department.
Baker cited financial pressures on the city resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic as one of the reasons the request was denied.
“Given the projected financial position for 2020, and the recessionary outlook, it is not expected there will be surplus funds available for public art in the near term,” said Baker in a letter to the board dated June 3.
Drone once sat on the board of the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, now the Art Gallery of Guelph, which he said helped him to further appreciate public art projects in the community.
“It will be an enhancement to the downtown core, it’s very much in alignment with the public arts policy of the city,” said Drone. “There are a number of sculptures in the downtown core over the last number of years that we believe enrich the public space. This is really all about enriching the public space of the community and talking about the community and the police service.”
Instead, the board will be seeking donations to see the project completed.
“We are still going to move ahead seeking private money that will allow us to have an adequate and we think outstanding representation installed hopefully within the next 12 months,” said Drone.
