City gearing up to have the public name the Bateman site.

By Pepper Parr

June 23rd, 2023

BURLINGTON, ON

 

There is some movement on the Bateman High School file

A staff report goes to Committee on Wednesday of next week – the 28th.

There are two recommendations:

Direct the Director of Recreation, Community and Culture and the Director of Corporate Communications and Engagement to engage the community during Q3 of 2023 on naming options as outlined in recreation, community and culture department report. “Former Robert Bateman High School – Naming and Sponsorship Update” for the location formerly known as Robert Bateman High School; and

Direct the Director of Corporate Communications and Engagement and the Director of Recreation, Community and Culture to report back to council on the future of sponsorship and naming of assets by Q4 2025 inclusive of sponsorship opportunities at Former Bateman.

Not much haste on putting a name on the place

A statement included in the Staff report: “The uncertainty of what programs and services will be offered at Bateman, as well as key decisions yet to be made about site plan development for both indoor and outdoor spaces,” should raise some eyebrows.

On December 13, 2022, Council approved the overall proposed Phase 1 facility design for the adaptive reuse of Robert Bateman High School and further directed staff to report back in Q2 2023 on, among other considerations, the “process for naming and branding the new facility

The City has a naming policy that provides guidance. Sections are excerpted below. The city appears ready to take a pass on finding sponsorship for for what is going to be a hub that includes space rented by the school board; space rented by Brock University and space that will be rented by TechPlace.

A library branch will be included.

No mention of a coffee shop – but there will be gymnasiums and a swimming pool included.

Don’t make mention of parking at this point – like almost everything else, controversy surrounds parking. Best comment heard so far is – make people pay for parking.

The city has a protocol on the naming of corporate assets that may be considered:

• When honouring a person, persons, a family, person, or group;
• Educating residents about a historical figure or event;
• Providing recognition of donations, sponsorships, and joint ventures;
• Recognizing International, National, or Provincial events/ competitions/ participants
• Opening of a new corporate asset or re-opening of corporate assets following refurbishment;
• When circumstances dictate the renaming of an existing asset.” “Preference will be given to names that:
• Give a sense of place, continuity, and belonging reflecting the geographic location, community, neighbourhood, or street where the corporate asset is located and/or:
• Reflects those who have or are advancing anti-racism and equity;
• Reflects cultural, ethnic, racial and gender diversity by honouring historically under-represented groups such as women, Black and Indigenous communities, people of colour, LGBTQ2S, and other communities;
• Recognizes the historical significance of the area and/or;
• Reflects the unique characteristics of the site and/or;
• Reflects the type of service offered and/or;
• Is in keeping with a selected theme and/or;
• Honours a person, persons, a family, or group, living or deceased, who have made a significant contribution to the community.”

The City managed to get a sponsor for the Community Centre part of Alton complex xxx ; naming Haber Community Centre’s
In what the city called an “an aggressive campaign that solicited over 2,500 companies, in the end securing Haber as naming sponsor.

Our recollection is that it was Haber that was aggressive – this is something they wanted – more ego involved than anything else.  They got a very good deal.

Does Burlington have 2,500 companies that would have the dollars the city was asking for?

What the city has learned is that the process represents a significant investment of time by staff. Sponsorship solicitation requires a specific skill set and the City is not well resourced in this area.  It typically takes 18 months or more to secure sponsorship if one is secured at all.

In the example of Haber, despite retaining a consultant and the diligent, hard work of staff there was limited community and business interest in this significant investment.

Recently, the renaming of Ryerson Park to Sweetgrass was achieved through a process of community engagement. Public interest was high, with more than 500 names submitted and 1,650 votes cast by residents. As another example, in 2020, three trails were named though public engagement. In that case, over 300 names were submitted and an average of more than 800 votes per trail were received (more than 2,400 votes total).

A three–step process is followed when soliciting community engagement for naming:
1. The community suggests names.
2. A selection committee composed of City staff and advisory committee members create a shortlist from those submitted by the community. The committee uses City policy to guide the shortlisted options.
3. Residents vote on shortlisted names.

In the case of Bateman, staff recommend decoupling naming of Bateman from sponsorship. The timelines for naming are near term, with construction requiring a name to be agreed upon by Q4 2023. Due to the uncertainty of what will be offered at Bateman and what the final site design will consist of contrasted with typical timelines associated with securing a sponsor of this nature, staff do not believe naming and sponsorship will align.

In this section, several options are presented for naming, outlining the benefits and drawbacks of each, and a pathway forward on sponsorship is presented for consideration.


Staff recommend option 4 – community engagement – for naming the facility, this presents a positive engagement opportunity for the community and fosters a sense of place and inclusion for participants.

Recent examples of community engagement for naming illustrate that processes can be put in place to ensure City policies for naming are followed. If this recommendation is endorsed, staff will seek to engage the community during Q3 of this year, aligning the conversations around naming to the community visioning exercises for Bateman.

The uncertainty of what programs and services will be offered at Bateman, as well as key decisions yet to be made about site plan development for both indoor and outdoor spaces, create an uncertain value proposition for sponsorship at this location. This, coupled with the generally elusive nature of municipal sponsorships causes staff to believe it will be difficult to secure sponsorship at this time.

For the approach to naming, staff recommend community engagement. For revenue generation linked to sponsorship, staff recommend reporting back to Council on the future of sponsorship by Q4 2025.

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6 comments to City gearing up to have the public name the Bateman site.

  • Roger

    How about the White Elephant or Huge Tax Burden

  • Blair Smith

    I agree with both Eva and Fred – what in the world is wrong with leaving it as “Bateman”? He was a Burlington educator who taught in two of the high schools, is an internationally renowned artist, a committed naturalist, a fervent environmental advocate and a very warm, caring man. To my knowledge he hasn’t owned slaves in the recent past, likes all colours in the spectrum and is politically neutral; non-binary in Mr. Arjoon’s parlance. Leave the name be and let’s start addressing more serious issues.

    • Gary Scobie

      I agree with you, Blair. I thought the same thing when I read the article. You expressed it much better than I would have, so thanks. If Bateman passed muster as a good choice years ago, it still passes muster today IMO. Give those staffers who would be working on this unneeded project something more necessary to do.

  • Lynn Crosby

    This is what they mean by engaging the community here in Burlington. I’m sure they’re busy writing their social media posts and press releases bragging about all the engagement.

    On such an expensive project, they don’t mean engaging us before they spend millions. They don’t mean engaging us on what will be in the building. They don’t mean engaging with delegates who come to talk to council regarding issues and concerns and suggestions.

    They mean after they’ve decided everything, much of which they don’t tell us, we can vote on the name after they narrow it down to a few of which they approve. Maybe we can also choose which shade of white they’ll paint the trim.

  • Eve St Clair

    I”m sure our virtue signalling Mayor will chose an indigenous gender neutral climate change friendly donor backed name

  • Fred Crockett

    What does all this trivia cost? Long term residents know the site as Elgin, others know it as Bateman. I know that earnest and self-righteous citizens have 73 different opinions, but folks, let’s just get it done without egos and produce a quality community resource without endless drivel……