NEWS RELEASE
CITY OF BARRIE
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Bayview Park has been officially renamed Sam Cancilla Park.
An event to unveil the new name of the park took place [Monday] afternoon, with Mayor Jeff Lehman and members of the Cancilla family.
The park has been renamed to recognize former Alderman Sam Cancilla who made significant contributions to the community and sadly passed away on Jan. 9, 2015.
Sam was Alderman for Ward 2 from 1985 to 1991.
As an owner of Cancilla’s Fruit and Vegetable Market, he was a respected and admired business leader within the community.
Before, during and after his time on City Council, Sam Cancilla contributed to numerous projects benefiting the community including the Allandale Recreation Centre and Barrie Sports Hall of Fame, Victoria Village, the acquisition of lands for the Barrie Public Library, the Grey and Simcoe Foresters Museum, the transit terminal, and maintaining the lands at Bayview Park for park purposes.
Sam Cancilla was a strong supporter of initiatives involving youth, sports and the Barrie community.
Council adopted a motion at its meeting on May 25, 2015 directing that public consultation be undertaken with respect to the renaming of Bayview Park to Sam Cancilla Park.
The City undertook a campaign over a 60 day period to encourage feedback with respect to the renaming of the park.
A total of 557 comments were received either through phone messages, mail, email, drop off or faxed information and online survey.
The consultation resulted in a clear majority of respondents supporting the renaming of the park.
A staff report was presented to general committee with the results of the public consultation on September 14.
Council approved the renaming of the park on September 21.
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