Council refers relocation of Sam the Record Man sign to city staff
Posted October 9, 2013 10:56 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Toronto city council has referred the matter of relocating the iconic Sam the Record Man sign to the city manager.
The vote was 24-18.
The relocation of the sign was Mayor Rob Ford’s second key matter after the Scarborough subway and the first item of business on Wednesday’s agenda.
On Tuesday, city council voted 24-20 in favour of the Scarborough subway over an LRT. Councillors also approved a plan to provide free Wi-Fi in Toronto parks.
Click here for the full meeting agenda.
On Wednesday, Coun. Kristyn Wong-Tam made a change to her original Sam the Record Man motion, asking the sign be displayed near Yonge and Gould streets – not necessarily at Ryerson University, and calling for more public consultation on the issue.
“We want to do one thing: promote Canadian music history in Toronto,” she said during the meeting.
“Ryerson has always been at the table for these meetings,” she added, but there are different opinions about where the sign should end up.
Bobby Sniderman, son of the store’s namesake, was in council on Tuesday and indicated he wanted the sign at the corner of Yonge and Gould.
Wong-Tam suggested the sign could be displayed at the corner of Dundas and Victoria streets, at an abandoned building that used to house a Hakim Optical store. The building is owned by the city but is vacant and “derelict,” she said.
Wong-Tam’s motion would allow for public input on the eventual location of the sign. A similar motion by Ford suggested similar locations, but did not allow for further public input.
It is up to council to decide if Ryerson University should be released from the agreement it made with the city, when it purchased the land, to hang the Sam sign on its property or if the sign will be relocated.
Coun. Josh Matlow argued it was up to Ryerson to honour the original agreement and that Toronto needs to work harder to protect its heritage.
“We’re the City of Toronto. Let’s use the power we have,” he said.
“They need to take responsibility for their inability to meet the agreement.”
