Stratford Market Square

In cities around the world people are working with city planners and municipal governments to recapture the spirit and energy of their Market Squares and Common Spaces. From Prague to San Francisco, from Kingston to Toronto people have restored their town centres, rooted trees and drawn people back to the central spaces that so many of us fondly remember.

We in Stratford, share that dream; to recreate our Market Square as the beating heart of our city centre.

To quote Joni Mitchell: did we "pave paradise to put up a parking lot"?, Did we lose something when we slowly transformed our central market into parking for cars and buses? Can we restore the vitality of our city centre? Can we do all this and ensure that we all win? We can; we've done it before.

In the past groups of individuals have come together to launch ambitious initiatives that have put Stratford on the map, economically and artistically. When the railway was young, we were central to that new technology. Soon after we became renowned for the crafting some of North America's finest furniture, and later we reached out for the stars and created a world famous Theatre. As a result we host some of the best culinary, cultural, lifestyle and manufacturing capabilities in Canada. Soon we will forge a new path that steers Stratford towards leadership in the new Knowledge based economy when we open the Stratford Institute.

As we launch into this brave new future we need our square more than ever; as we redefine our city, we need to remake our core. As the song suggests, we need to set down the roots of paradise in our city centre.

We already have the winning plan: Plant Architects have designed a brilliant, modern and natural space for our downtown, and all that is needed now is your support. In order to make this happen we will follow the path forged by the Stratford Festival and the Stratford Institute -- we will take the idea, and show that when a city builds a healthy centre, the benefits radiate to everyone in the city.