By Staff
November 23, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
Bateman Naming Update
With the support of the Robert Bateman Naming Shortlist committee, the City is recommending to the Environment, Infrastructure and Community Services Committee (EICS) on Dec. 7 the name of Burlington’s newest community centre be “Robert Bateman Community Centre.”
Robert Bateman now lives in British Columbia.
When the submission deadline passed, a committee was formed to review the submissions and create a shortlist of names that aligned to the City’s naming policy and represented the community voice. This committee included representatives from the Advisory Committees of Heritage and Inclusion, City Council, the Indigenous Talking Circle, and City staff.
Survey results
- 221 names were received.
- 44 per cent were for Robert Bateman Community Centre (or a close variation).
- Pinedale was the second-place name with three per cent of the submissions.
The consensus of the committee was that the community has already overwhelmingly chosen the name Robert Bateman Community Centre and it would be disingenuous to poll the community again or put a short list to a vote.
Next Steps
Staff will submit a report with the name recommendation and rationale to the Environment, Infrastructure, and Community Services Committee meeting Dec. 7 and to City Council on Dec. 12, 2023.
No word yet on where the new name will be placed.
How much City Staff time & Council time was spent on this name change proposal and Survey?? Interesting that none of the City Staff or our City Council spent any time on letting residents know about the purchase and cost of Bateman until after it was a done deal! 100 million dollars gone and still counting.
Wow! City Council does have ears
Yes sanity at last. Lets hope it is infectious and starts spreading to council on 24th.
Seriously….was there ever any doubt it should be named after anyone other than Robert Bateman? The school should never have been closed in the first place. At least the facility will live on and serve the community in another capacity.
Right on Stephen!
City staff must be jolted into reality! It’s beyond time for them to acknowledge that this is just one of the many demands the community has been shouting from the rooftops! It’s not exactly rocket science; we want our running track and field behind the community centre, kept as is, and we won’t settle for anything less! Enough with the deaf ears and disrespectfully incompetent staff directions – they better start paying attention immediately, engaging with the community meaningfully and ditch all notions of turning this cornerstone into a soulless parking lot. Our community knows what we need, and we’re not about to let them pave over our precious greenspace. I have signed the petition and want to make it crystal clear: hands off our track and field!
Sign here: https://chng.it/G986xjKn8S
Sanity