Fonds - City of Kitchener Millennium Project fonds

As the year 2000 quickly approached, City of Kitchener officials began to think about the various ways in which the community could celebrate the new millennium. The Millennium Selection and Steering Committee was subsequently formed with the mandate to review proposals of community millennium projects and decided which projects would be recommended to Council for consideration. In essence, the committee was to form a link between community groups seeking funding and City Council. The first Steering Committee meeting was held on November 12, 1998. Lorna Ferguson, the Millennium Project Co-ordinator, headed the committee; the chairperson was Bryan Stortz. Other members of the committee were as follows D'Arcy Farlow, Philip Fernandez, Sybil Frenette, Harry Froklage, Lori Gove, Jamie Grant, Jean Haalboom, Elaine Rees, Berry Vrbanovic, and Jim Wallace. To mark the millennium, both the federal and provincial governments provided grants to municipalities in an effort to aid millennium-oriented projects within their respective communities. One of the programs to which the committee applied was the provincial Main Street Ontario millennium funding program. The City of Kitchener received $91,100 from the program since applicants received $0.50 for each resident. The committee received 11 proposals fro millennium projects and it was from these proposals that the final five were selected. The five projects which received funds from the MSO grant were the Millennium Thumbprints project, Wave of the Future, the Millennium Garden, the Registry Theatre, and Millennium Mondays. $30,000 from the MSO grant was allocated for the Millennium Thumbprints. While the federal government also provided financial support (it gave $10,000) the German-Canadian community raised a substantial amount of the money necessary for this venture. The mural was designed by local artists Charles Baker, Christopher Griffin and Marshall Ward and consisted of 2000 thumbprints; 1000 were contributed by Kitchener residents and the other 1000 were collected from residents of Berlin, Germany. The thumbprints were combined into a 45 foot long, 2 foot high mural which was installed in Civic Square in front of City Hall. According to the artists, the human thumbprint is representative of all humanity, that is, one cannot differentiate between the thumbprints on a basis of gender, race or nationality. In combining the thumbprints of both Kitchener and Berlin residents, the artists believed that they were forging a symbolic link between the past and the future as the city was formerly called Berlin. The official unveiling of the mural was held on October 14, 2000. Wave of the Future received $25,000 from the MSO grant. It was a special preview exhibit for the Waterloo Regional Children's Museum located in the former Goudies store at King and Queen Streets. The interactive exhibit explored optic and sound waves and ran from October 27, 2000 to November 5, 2000. The official opening of the museum will be held in spring 2002 when the facility will be completed. The Millennium Steering Committee decided that the Millennium Garden, located between the Governor's House and the Waterloo county Gaol, was yet another community undertaking that was worthy of its financial support. $30,000 of the MSO grant was allocated to the Garden project to assist in the creation of a walled garden reminiscent of the Gaol. The Registry Theatre received $5,600 from the provincial grant. This millennium project entailed the conversion of the old County Registry office into a community theatre. In addition, $500.00 was allocated to the Millennium Mondays project, which was a neighborhood program organized by the Central Frederick Neighborhood Association. The Millennium Steering Committee also gave its support to another millennium project, the Trans Canada Trail. While the Committee did not provide financial support, it did provide organizational and administrative assistance. The Trans Canada Trail was built to celebrate the new millennium and would physically link all of the provinces and territories in addition to the three oceans bordering Canada. The trail measured 16,100 kilometers, the longest multi-use recreational trail in the world. To mark the official opening of the Trans Canada Trail, a relay was held. The Trans Canada Trail Relay commenced at each of the three oceans bordering the nation where a bottle of water was drawn. Official carriers transported the water along the trail to their final destination of Ottawa. On September 9, 2000 the carriers reached Ottawa where the waters of the Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans were combined in the new Trans Canada Trail Fountain at Jacques Cartier Park. The Relay passed through Waterloo Region on August 16-189. In addition to organizing and providing support to these various projects and events, the Millennium Steering Committee also worked on creating an enhanced version of the annual New Year's Eve celebration Festival of the Night. This event included a free children's concert, ice skating on the rink in from of City Hall, and fireworks.

1: Background Information. – 1998-2001. – 7 cm.

This series contains material on various community events such as Waterloo County Fest 2000 and Beacon Millennium. It also includes information regarding government initiatives, for example, Ontario 2000, along with a publication containing ideas for millennium celebrations.

An index is available in Appendix A.

2: The Millennium Thumbprints. – 1989-2000. 19 cm.

This series contains information regarding the bronze monument entitled Millennium Thumbprints. The records reflect the entire process from its initial proposal to the official unveiling of the final mural. The series consists of correspondence, newspaper articles, photographs, videos, financial records, promotional brochures and various memorabilia such as buttons, commemorative booklet, balloon and temporary tattoos.

An index is available in Appendix B.

3: The Millennium Garden. – 2000. – 1 cm.

This series consists of photographs, memorabilia, a grant application and newspaper articles. The records provide information on the objectives of the project and the construction of the actual garden.

An index is available in Appendix C.

4: Wave of the Future. – ca. 2000. - 0.5cm.

This series is comprised entirely of memorabilia of the exhibit “Wave of the Future” which was a special preview exhibit for the Waterloo Regional Children’s Museum as well as a project proposal. The memorabilia includes an invitation to the opening of the exhibit, a schedule of events and a poster.

An index is available in Appendix D.

5: The Registry Theatre. - 2001. – 0.5 cm.

This series consists of memorabilia, a grant application and newspaper articles. The memorabilia includes the invitation to the theatre grand opening, along with the program of the play “Wait Until Dark”, the theatres first production.

An index is available in Appendix E.

6: Trans Canada Trail Relay 2000. – 1999-2000.-9.5cm, 2 items.

This series contains information regarding the history of the Trans Canada Trail and the relay, photographs, maps memorabilia in addition to a video. The memorabilia includes a banner and a commemorative water bottle.

An index is available in Appendix F.

7: Festival of the Night.-1999-ca. 2000. – 0.5 cm.

This series contains of newspaper articles and memorabilia. The articles provide information regarding past New Year’s Eve celebrations in addition to details pertaining to the one marking the millennium.

An index is available in Appendix G.

8: Millennium Mondays.-1999. – 0.5 cm.

This series consists of the grant application for funding from the MSO.

An index is available in Appendix H.

APPENDIX A
Series 1: Background Information

Title Date Volume/Item Box
Memorabilia 1998-2000 1-1 10808
Millennium Steering Committee- correspondence 1998-2001 1-2 10808
Millennium Steering Committee – Minutes 1989 1-3 10808
Grant Applications Forms 1998 1-4 10808
Newspaper Articles 1999 1-5 10808
Millennium Projects Celebrating the Health and Heritage of the Grand River Watershed 1999 1-18 10808
Application Final & Interim Notes 2000 1-19 10808
Post Project Report 2001 1-20 10808

APPENDIX B
Series 2: The Millennium Thumbprints

Title Date Volume/Item Box
Background Information 1999-2000 1-6 10808
General Correspondence 1999-2000 1-7 10808
Correspondence re: The Berlin Connection 1999-2000 1-8 10808
Newspaper Articles 1999-2000 1-9 10808
Financial Information 2000 1-10 10808
Photographs v.1 2000 3-1 9918
Photographs v.2 2000 5-1 10916
Photographs v.3 2000 5-2 10916
Videos v.1 n.d. 3-2 9918
Videos v.2 n.d. 3-3 9918
Memorabilia v.1 2000 1-11 10808
Memorabilia v.2 2000 5-4 10916
Millennium Thumbprint Promotional Brochures 2000 1-25 10808

APPENDIX C
Series 3: The Millennium Garden

Title Date Volume/Item Box
Photographs 2000 1-12 10808
Memorabilia 2000 1-13 10808
Newspaper Articles 2000 1-14 10808
Grant Applications 1999 1-22 10808

APPENDIX D
Series 4: Wave of the Future

Title Date Volume/Item Box
Memorabilia 2000 1-15 10808
Project Proposal 1999 1-21 10808

APPENDIX E
Series 5: The Registry Theatre

Title Date Volume/Item Box
Memorabilia 2001 1-16 10808
Newspaper Articles 2001 1-17 10808
Grant Application 1999 1-23 10808

APPENDIX F
Series 6: Trans Canada Trail Relay 2000

Title Date Volume/Item Box
Background Information 1999-2000 2-1 10855
Photographs 2000 4-1 9920
Maps 2000 5-3 10916
Memorabilia v.1 2000 2-2 10855
Memorabilia v.2 2000 4-2 9920
Newspaper Articles 2000 2-3 10855
Video 1999 2-4 10855

APPENDIX G
Series 7: Festival of the Night

Title Date Volume/Item Box
Newspaper Articles 1999-2000 2-5 10855
Memorabilia 2000 2-6 10855

APPENDIX H
Series 8: Millennium Mondays

Title Date Volume/Item Box
Grant Application 1999-2000 1-24 10808