Council Member Inquiry/Motion Form Demande de renseignements d’un membre du Conseil /Formulaire de motion
From/Exp. : Councillor A. Cullen	Date : 9 June 2010	File/Dossier : 22-10
To/Dest. : City Manager
Subject/Objet : Commemorative Plaques and Monuments
Inquiry/Demande de renseignements Motion Does the City have an inventory of Commemorative plaques and monuments on City buildings and properties?
Response/Réponse Response to be listed on the Community and Protective Services Committee Agenda of August 19 and the Council Agenda of August 25, 2010. Arts and Heritage Services with the assistance of summer employees (2007-2009) has compiled a draft inventory of some 600 City of Ottawa commemorations.  This is not a complete inventory – the list is added to incrementally through referrals by the public, or through communications with heritage organizations. Approximately 70% of these are a listing of plaques of municipally designated heritage buildings, administered by the City’s Planning and Growth Management, Heritage Services Unit. Given that there is an asset value to these physical objects, it was felt important to have a listing that itemizes the scope and location of commemorations. The remainder are commemorations of people, events and organizations who contributed to Ottawa’s historical development, military service and in some cases have international relevancy.  Most of these were installed by the former City of Ottawa and other municipalities, pre-amalgamation. In 2009, Arts and Heritage Services also compiled a summary of “who does what” in the City, regarding some manner of commemoration. These documents are available. Arts and Heritage Services, in collaboration with Carleton University’s Masters in Canadian Studies, Heritage Conservation program, engaged a co-op placement graduate student to undertake a thesis paper in best practices and policy development for a potential commemorations program for the City of Ottawa. This extensive document is also on file. To this point, a revised commemorations policy and program has yet to be implemented. It is hoped too, that ultimately this inventory will be made publicly accessible, online, and possibly through City Archives. The Arts and Heritage Plan Refresh now underway will review the feasibility and timeline for the development of a comprehensive commemoration policy. Requests for commemorations projects, or dealing with vandalized or damaged commemorations are dealt with on a case by case basis, interdepartmentally. Additionally a good rapport and practice of exchanging information has been developed with the National Capital Commission, Parks Canada, National Historic Sites and Monuments Board, (Federal commemorations) and the Ontario Heritage Trust (provincial commemorations). These agencies also maintain inventories of commemorations they are responsible for. The City’s working inventory does not include federal or provincial commemorations.