Imagine, as a little kid, growing up in a city that had a carousel running year-round in the heart of town. How cool would that be?
Very cool and, as of Canada Day, it’s a reality right here in Markham.
If you didn’t know what was hiding behind the partitions at Birchmount Rd. and Enterprise Blvd. for the past couple of years, you’ve probably been guessing. Some people thought it might be a transit shelter, and others felt it was a gas station, but few ever imagined it would be a merry-go-round.
Commissioned by the Remington Group, the real estate and development company behind the Downtown Markham project, the carousel is not just a children’s ride, but part of the company’s public art initiatives.
Named “The Pride of Canada”, the ride is made from junk metal and other objects collected from across the country by junk artist Patrick Amiot. In place of the traditional horse figures found on a typical carousel, Amiot created an eclectic mix of characters and objects, each one designed to help Markham’s new immigrants get a better sense of Canada’s story.
At seven metres in height and 15 metres wide, the carousel is as large as it can be according to the builder, who said it would tip over if it was any bigger. It features 44 seats, including a rideable Mountie centaur, a mermaid sporting maple leaves and a big pig, among other whimsical creations.
The carousel’s $10 million dollar cost was covered by Remington’s $25 million dollar initiative for public art throughout the new development. Downtown Markham is the largest mixed-use real estate development in Canada. Occupying 243 acres bounded by Warden Ave., the GO Train tracks to the east, Highway 7 on the north and the 407 on the south, the development is expected to be completed by 2024 and cost over $4 billion.
The “mixed-use” aspect of the project means that, when completed, it will be home to 10,000 people, housed in a blend of townhouses and condo suites; and the workplace of 16,000, who will be employed in the 3.4 million square feet of office space, and the retail, entertainment and restaurant operations in the area.
The Remington Group has long been involved in real estate developments in Toronto, Markham and York Region. The company built the Wigson Estates collection of luxury homes in Thornhill, developed the Remington Centre at Steeles and Kennedy in Markham and is the developer of the Carville District Centre mixed-use project in Vaughan.
Christopher Bratty, Remington Group’s president of land development & investments, spearheaded the creation and installation of The Pride of Canada. “The concept was to take art and take the walls down and put it into public spaces so you interact with it,” says Bratty of the carousel.
The developer also wanted to make the carousel sustainable to meet with the sustainability goals that Remington Group has set for the Downtown Markham project. In addition to recycling junk metal to create the main features, the ride is currently powered by a hybrid engine and is set-up to run completely on solar power in the future.
We’ve written a number of times about what a great place Markham is to live. Not only does having a carousel at a major downtown intersection add a new dimension to Markham life, but when you have real estate developers willing to support $25 million in public art for any part of your city, you must be doing something right.
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