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Home My WebLink AboutCSD-11-108 - Cityhood Centennial Celebration - Kitchener 100.pd1 KITCx~i~~R Staff Re ort p Camrn unity Services Departm ent ~w.k~~~~~r~erca REPORT T0: Community and Infrastructure Services Committee DATE OF MEETING: October 17, 2011 SUBMITTED BY: Keith Baulk, Director of Enterprise, 2393 PREPARED BY: Jeff Young, Special Events Manager, 2388 WARD(S) INVOLVED: All DATE OF REPORT: September 30, 2011 REPORT NO.: CSD-11-108 SUBJECT: Cityhood Centennial Celebration -Kitchener 100 RECOMMENDATION: That the 2012 Cityhood Centennial Celebration budget and the funding of $165,000 as provided in the City's 10 year capital forecast for 2012 be pre-approved in order to begin implementation of the event workplan. BACKGROUND: In 1912, the town of Berlin celebrated its "Achievement of Cityhood". The City crest was adopted and an official ceremony took place announcing that the community of 15,000 people was now large enough to move from a town to that of a City. At the time, there were approximately 10 cities in Ontario, which made the "Achievement of Cityhood" an extremely significant event and an important moment in the history of the City. Most communities celebrate significant historical dates. The previous Council acknowledged this and a number of years ago in anticipation of Kitchener's 100th anniversary allocated $15,000 in 2011 and $165,000 in 2012 in the 10 year capital forecast. The allocation was contingent on Council receiving an update report so that a final decision on funding the actual celebration could be made as part of the 2012 capital budget process. REPORT: This report supports the concept of providing funds to support a celebration of the City's 100th anniversary of "Achievement of Cityhood" in 2012. A steering committee was formed in 2010. The steering committee was comprised of community members who felt it was important for the City to celebrate the anniversary. The steering committee provided some programming ideas and helped identify individuals from within the community who would volunteer to ultimately implement the program. In June 2011, the Cityhood committee, made up of community volunteers, Council representatives (Community and Infrastructure Services Committee Chair Galloway and Mayor Zehr) and staff was formed to plan and implement the concept forthe Centennial Celebration. 11-1 1 Staff Report Krr~.~-~~,i~iER CommunityServicesDepartment www.kitthenerta It was made clear from the beginning that funding for the celebration was not confirmed and any City contribution would require the approval of Council through the 2012 budget process. However the committee feels that in order to maximize the ability to leverage the City funding to make this a major event and to provide enough time to properly plan the event, budget pre- approval is necessary. Over the past several months, the Cityhood committee has met several times as a group and also engaged individuals from within the community (Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Waterloo Region Record) to develop a series of potential initiatives for the celebration. The proposed celebration would include a major kick off event, various community initiated programs, smaller events and a marketing campaign. Much more public consultation will be required with the community and stakeholders to determine the exact form of each event and how the City can leverage these community groups and stakeholders to increase both investment and involvement to make the celebration more significant. The proposed overall theme of the celebration is: Celebrate the Past -IMAGINE the Future. A series of proposed events that are in various stages of planning are as follows: Kick Off Event Kitchener's 100t" Celebration of Cityhood will kick off in style with a block party in Downtown Kitchener on June 10t" commemorating the date Kitchener became a city in 1912. King Street will be closed from the Market to Civic Square where the streets will be filled with live entertainment, games, vendors and food from various periods covering the past 100 years. The BIA and its members are potential partners in the event. Community Segment Engagement In order to engage the largest number of citizens within Kitchener, groups from the proposed four community segments (noted below) will be encouraged to submit their sixty second video online detailing their proposed plans for the $10,000 grant. The segments of the community have been identified and include: Sports • Youth/Schools • Neighbourhoods • Arts & Culture The winner of each grant will be determined by the community through online voting and a panel of judges. The criteria for each grant are to be established prior to the launch of the program and will include ties back to the Cityhood Celebration. The concept provides an excellent opportunity to engage the citizens of Kitchener through online voting and achieves penetration both within Kitchener and outside the community by engaging through both online and traditional media outlets which will further showcase Kitchener as a world class city. 11-2 1 Staff Report Krr~.~-~~,i~iER CommunityServicesDepartment www.kitthenerta The Waterloo Region Record has indicated their support to be a major sponsor of this project. Community Events The community will be engaged to develop ideas on a smaller scale of how they can incorporate the Celebration of Cityhood into their project. Some of the potential projects could include floral gardens in neighbourhood parks, guided evening tours of the haunted sites of Kitchener and everything in between. Groups will be encouraged to provide grant applications on their proposed project which will be reviewed and judged by the Cityhood Centennial Committee based on established criteria. In addition, existing events throughout the year will be encouraged to incorporate the Kitchener 100t" branding into their plans (e.g., neighbourhood association events, existing City run festivals, etc). ALIGNMENT WITH CITY OF KITCHENER STRATEGIC PLAN: This event aligns with numerous components of the City of Kitchener's Strategic Plan. It touches on C1-Leadership and Community Engagement as well as C2-Diversity. Part of the celebration will be in downtown Kitchener, thereby aligning with C4-Downtown. In addition, the activities align with C6-Quality of Life. People are an important component of celebrating of Kitchener's 1001h. The event aligns with the People Plan Priorities, such as P1-Culture of Learning, P3-Culture of Inclusion, P4-Culture of Appreciation and Fun, P5-Culture of Community Stewardship, and P6-Culture of Accountability. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: The funding required from the City of Kitchener's 2012 budget is $165,000 as outlined in the budget matrix below. The committee's goal is to make this event much more prominent and will use the $165,000 contribution from the City as leverage to increase the overall value of the celebration to approximately $500,000. For example Heritage Canada has confirmed a grant of $66,000 and as indicated above the Waterloo Region Record is prepared to be a major sponsor. 11-3 1 KITCx~i~~R Staff Re ort p Camrn unity Services Departm ent ~w.k~~~~~r~erca If the in-kind/sponsorshiplgrant funding included in the budget is realized it would go toward implementing additional Centennial programming throughoutthe year. The committee will work towards securing the additional grants and sponsorships once approval of the City funding is confirmed. CoK Funding $ 165,000.00 In kind/Sponsorship/Grants $ 330,000.00 Total Revenue ,- - Sa I a ry/Ad m i n $ 165,000.00 $ 40, 000.00 $ - Kick Off Event $ 30,000.00 (4) Community Segments $ 40,000.00 Sports - $10,000 Youth - $10,000 Arts & Culture - $10,000 Neighborhood Associations - $10,000 Small Community Events $ 30,000.00 Marketing/Communications $ 25,000.00 Total Expenses $ 165,000.00 $ 330,000.00 *The committe has also submitted applications for various grants COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: The program is based on primarily on community engagement and partnership development as outlined in the report rationale above. This report is being made public as part of the standing committee agenda. ACKNOWLEDGED BY: Jeff Willmer, Deputy CAO, Community Services Department 11-4