Unofficial Commemorative Bench
Restoration and revitalization are words that often come attached to calls for public art and proposals for development. They’re also words that, armed with the prefix denoting repetition or “again,” obscure the fact of erasure. Not destruction but a return, like resurrection without death.
The Unofficial Commemorative Bench is located in the Glasgow St. Parkette, in Toronto’s Chinatown. The bench marks a relationship between the parkette and the tower down the street, “CampusOne,” a privately owned residence aimed towards students where a one-bedroom apartment without a kitchen costs $2,000/mo.
Residents of the area opposed “CampusOne” over several years but ultimately lost. As part of the building going forward, a “community benefits” agreement was made between the developer and the city, which led to the renovation of this parkette. I installed plaques, unofficially, that commemorate the residents’ opposition. You can see the tower from the bench.
