Barrie Council approves dedicating memorial garden to COVID-19 heroes

Barrie city council gave the green light at Wednesday night's meeting to place a garden at Sunnidale Park dedicated to honouring the efforts of health-care workers during the pandemic.

The memorial garden will be funded through the Rotary of Barrie.

Also, at the meeting, councillors agreed to commit $2.4 million to the Duckworth Street project, bringing the total costs to over $23 million.

Barrie has crews working to replace underground infrastructure and fully reconstruct Duckworth Street in the city's north end.

Councillors will ratify the decision next week.

Busking Pilot Program

There's a renewed push to bring back the Busking Pilot Program.

"I think there's some pretty widespread community support. We've seen some incredible artists taking part in the community over the years, certainly want to see that continue as we activate our public spaces and make them feel safe and welcomed.

So what better way to do that than to portray and show some of the incredible artists we have here in our community," said Mayor Alex Nuttall.

The motion would allow street performers, musicians and artists to perform through Barrie's city core this summer.