BARRIE, ONT. -- It's been one of the most photographed spots in Ontario over the last six years: the now-iconic Toronto sign in Nathan Phillips Square, steps from city hall.
Other Canadian cities including Ottawa and Vancouver have put their spin on the idea.
Now Barrie city councillor Mike McCann wants in on the love-fest, pitching a landmark sign overlooking the Kempenfelt Bay.
"I thought to myself, why does Barrie not have one? We deserve one," McCann said Sunday.
"We've got the best waterfront in Ontario if not Canada, and I'd like to have a landmark sign where people can take pictures, celebrate, come down and be an inspiration to the city."
Barrie council will consider a proposal to erect the landmark in Meridian Place when they meet on Monday night.
McCann anticipates the project would cost between $150,000 and $200,000 and could be funded by donations and tourism revenues.
McCann is open to ideas for the sign's design but feels it must be 'bold, large, elegant.'
"My vision is a big eight-foot heart where we could have everyone under the sun taking pictures inside the heart, and then our word Barrie."
Toronto's eponymous sign was first erected as a feature of the Pan-Am Games in 2015. In January, it was replaced with a more durable version. Toronto paid nearly $762,000 to remove the old sign and design and install the new one.
