Downtown murals will not be destroyed – yet – as Oshawa okays detailed preservation report

It’s back to the drawing board for the future of Oshawa’s downtown murals.

Fourteen murals scheduled for removal (and to be eventually replaced with new art) over the next five years have been given a lifeline after Oshawa Council agreed to report on the cost and feasibility of preserving and maintaining the artwork.

The original report, put together by STEPS Public Art, a charitable organization known for its expertise in creating public art installations and developing art strategies, called for 14 of the 15 murals in downtown Oshawa produced from 1995 to 2001 – all showing the wear and tear of age – to be ‘deaccessioned’ and removed over the next five years.

The report outlined the costs for removing the murals (about $10,000 each) and creating new ones ($20,000 each), as well as the estimated $73,000 to restore the mural at Memorial Park honouring the Ontario Regiment that is part of the Heritage Bandshell property and must be preserved.

The issue quickly became a hot topic on Facebook threads, with the most responses almost entirely negative and residents complaining council was “erasing” the city’s history.

‘Mural Gate’ also led to division on council before the matter even made it on the council floor, with Councillor Derek Giberson releasing a 16-minute video on the condition of the murals – “a quarter century of exposure to the elements has not been good to them” – and the need to refresh the art, with Councillor Brian Nicholson, who began his career in 1985 and was on council for the commissioning of all but one of the murals, taking a different approach and calling the cost estimates for the restoration of one of the murals and as much as $22,000 each for the removal of others “absurd.”

“This report was designed for one purpose and one purpose only: to scare the residents of Oshawa into abandoning their murals,” he said on his Facebook page, adding that hundreds of comments and emails have been received supporting his stance.

That led to a tense exchange on the council floor Monday, with Giberson lamenting the “lack of context” on the social media messages being delivered and Nicholson rising to protest.

There were several delegations speaking on the murals Monday (and a few no-shows), with former councillor Louise Parkes (who was on the committee that commissioned the art) saying the murals could last decades more, given proper maintenance.

Council also heard from Joshua Glover, a Clarington Catholic school board trustee (who has been banned from school board meetings until November for repeated Code of Conduct violations), who chastised Oshawa staff for “impugning the dignity” of their duty by endorsing the report and said new abstract or graffiti art “don’t mean anything.”

Dan Hanewich spoke to Council with a bit more elegance and urged the councillors to preserve the murals and hire local artists to preserve the existing murals as well as create new ones.

“For the love of art can we please preserve the original 15 murals? Don’t destroy our history.”

Councillor Bob Chapman noted that taking down some or all of the murals was not about “erasing” history. “These are pictures. The history will always remain.”

After some spirited debate and a series of amendments the councillors agreed to have staff prepare a detailed report on each mural that would outline the condition of each piece of art and how much it would cost to preserve them.

There will also be QR codes added to each artwork, “so people can understand the history of each mural,” noted Councillor Rick Kerr.

Giberson, who “reluctantly” agreed to the amended motion, said the goal is to “honour the old Oshawa, which we’re all proud of,” while supporting the ‘new’ Oshawa – “which we’re all hopeful for” – so council can “make an informed decision.”

Councillor Tito-Dante Marimpietri, who pointed out that many new residents in the city are not represented in the murals, said the amended motion is about “preserving our history” while “celebrating Oshawa’s bright future.”

The future of this mural on the east wall of the former bus terminal will be determined when the propery is redeveloped