A New Home For The Sam The Record Man Sign?
Looks like the Sam the Record Man sign might just have found a new home after all , at the heart of Yonge and Dundas square. A city report from Deputy City Manager John Livey that will be making its way to the planning committee on June 19th proposes moving the sign to the top of the city-owned Toronto Public Health building at the corner of Dundas and Victoria, and would need to be approved by both the committee and then city council before any action could take place.
The report, which you can read in full here, outlines the details surrounding the sign's potential new home at 277 Victoria Street. The report references the original agreement with Ryerson, who removed the sign when it purchased the Sam the Record Man building in 2007 to build its Student Learning Centre. The original plan was for Ryerson to put the sign up either on the new Student Centre (it eventually decided to abandon this plan) or at the top of its library. The city report notes that after "public feedback and extensive consultation with stakeholders", it felt that 277 Victoria Street was a more appropriate location for the sign. As a part of the original agreement, Ryerson would still be required to pay all of the maintenance and operating costs associated with the sign, including insurance and hydro.
Also included in the report was a mock-up of what the sign would look like:
If you look closely, you'll notice that there's a second sign just along the right side of the building that reads "Toronto Music City". The report goes beyond simply finding a suitable home for the sign and directs the City to examine funding possibilities for getting this sign installed as a "visual link to a possible music related facility at 38 Dundas Street East". Expanding on this music-related facility in their final recommendation, the report suggests:
"Direct Real Estate Services and Economic Development & Culture Division staff to explore the temporary use of 38 Dundas Street East (formerly occupied by Hakim Optical), in conjunction with The Downtown Yonge BIA or other related organizations including Music Advisory Council, the Canadian Independent Music Association, or Ryerson University, as a possible "Toronto Music City" or other related facility for music development, promotion, tourism and export development and report back in 2015."
We'll keep you posted on what happens at next week's Planning Committee meeting!