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By\u00a0Rianna Lim The Canadian Press\n <\/p>\n
TORONTO – At a downtown Toronto park, 14 unassuming concrete pillars stand in a semicircle between an off-leash dog area, a splash pad and a walking path. Each pillar has a plaque engraved with hundreds of names. A couple of them have been vandalized.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This is one of the biggest AIDS memorials in Canada. But many people who walk through Barbara Hall Park wouldn\u2019t know it due to its deteriorating condition after years of neglect, says David, a member of the city\u2019s HIV-positive community.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say today, the memorial in many ways doesn\u2019t even feel like a memorial to some folks who might not have a connection to it. I\u2019ve definitely interacted with people in the park who aren\u2019t aware that it\u2019s a memorial,\u201d says David, who asked to only be identified by his first name so that his HIV status remains private. \u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s part of the reason why he\u2019s leading a grassroots effort to restore the memorial alongside members of the community, as the city proposes redesign plans David argues diminish the memorial\u2019s prominence and lack meaningful feedback from people living with HIV.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt should have more gravitas to it. It should feel like it\u2019s a very important space,\u201d he says. \u00a0<\/p>\n
The Echoes project, designed by David with pro bono rendering from Norm Li, seeks to expand and enhance the existing memorial by incorporating elements suggested by community members. It comes as the city begins to finalize plans for the park\u2019s redesign, with construction projected for 2030.<\/p>\n
The memorial was first established in 1988 and was made permanent in 1993, according to the 519, a Toronto-based LGBTQ+ organization that manages the memorial\u2019s annual name engravings. Names of people from across Canada who lost their lives to AIDS can be added to the site on an ongoing basis, beyond a set time period. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the first I would say 20 years, it was fairly lush, beautiful. You\u2019d come by and they had rose bushes as a large feature of it,\u201d David says. \u201cThe city has really stopped maintaining the memorial in any way. It\u2019s frequently vandalized. Most of the vegetation around it, that provided more of a buffer, has been removed or trampled.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2023, the city initiated plans to improve the park and held consultations and online surveys that included HIV-positive people and residents in the neighbourhood. Feedback from those sessions included suggestions to make the memorial more prominent in the park and to create elements that explain its history and importance, such as additional signage, according to the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But when the city released its three proposed designs last September, David says he and other members of the community felt disappointed. The plans reduce the memorial to an afterthought, he suggests, and inadequately incorporate the community\u2019s suggestions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Breklyn Bertozzi, executive director of the Canadian AIDS Society, describes the city\u2019s proposed redesign as \u201cvery lacking.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bertozzi, who lives with HIV, says the city didn\u2019t do enough to consult with members of the community on the memorial.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a setback to our progress and an insult to the meaning of this space for us,\u201d she says. \u201cIt takes away from what is already there, in my opinion, and it wasn\u2019t enough to begin with.\u201d<\/p>\n
For instance, the city\u2019s proposed redesigns do little to differentiate the memorial from the rest of the park, leaving it as an open space rather than a distinct sanctuary, says David. They also don\u2019t incorporate elements to explain the history of the HIV community, he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere didn\u2019t seem to be any intentional approach to considering that the memorial is the back quarter of the park. The designs seem to minimize it into an art feature,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That pushed David to create his own design, which he says involved months of historical research into the local HIV-positive community and the park\u2019s development, conversations with long-term HIV survivors and consultations with neighbourhood groups.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Echoes redesign would include a buffer of forest grove to distinguish the memorial from the rest of the park, and include new pillars that would list the biographies of HIV community members and display panels explaining the history and impact of the epidemic, David suggests. The trans memorial, which is also located in the park, would have additional seating and be further designed following input from the transgender community, he says.<\/p>\n
His proposed design of the AIDS memorial has been endorsed by dozens of HIV and AIDS organizations, including the Canadian AIDS Society, the Ontario AIDS Network and local AIDS committees across the province, he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the memorial doesn\u2019t explain to the broader public why it\u2019s here, it then faces a risk of further diminishment and removal in the long run,\u201d says David. \u201cI\u2019m hoping that when people come here, they see a beautiful space that they want to engage with.\u201d<\/p>\n
He adds he\u2019d like the city to use Echoes as the baseline for the redesign. He has provided the design to city officials, and says he\u2019s been asked to do a presentation at an advisory committee later this month, before the final design is officially chosen. He plans to participate in further consultations with the city, but says he remains wary.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Ed Jackson, who co-founded the AIDS Committee of Toronto in 1983, calls the city\u2019s proposed redesigns a \u201chalf-effort.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just didn\u2019t capture what I feel is important, which is a community-based response to AIDS and HIV,\u201d he says. \u201cIt just was basically a kind of revamping of things around the pillars, and that was it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jackson says he supports the Echoes project because it reflects the ongoing impact of AIDS and HIV over time, and it would provide a \u201cquiet, contemplative area\u201d for people to reflect. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt adds places for remembering the work of the community, the organizations in terms of both resistance and survival,\u201d says Jackson.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think if (the city) really wants community input, this is one that has really worked hard to come up with community input. So I\u2019m hoping that the parks department and the city will be responsive to this one and be able to incorporate a lot of the designs into the final look.\u201d<\/p>\n
The memorial is a particularly important place for Jade Elektra, an HIV activist and ambassador for the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research. Elektra, who lives with HIV, became one of the first drag queens to perform at the memorial during the city\u2019s annual AIDS vigil in 2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve looked at what the city is planning on doing and it just seemed very minimal,\u201d says Elektra. \u201cWe have a way now to make sure that people know why this memorial stands, why these names have been put there.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked about the Echoes project, city spokesperson Jas Baweja said officials are \u201cexploring elements of the proposal that can be incorporated into the existing plan in the context of the park\u2019s overall design, accessibility, maintenance, and safety requirements,\u201d noting that no decisions have been made at this time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe current draft design aims to retain and enhance the AIDS memorial, preserve key elements such as the triangular stage and pillars, and enhance accessibility while integrating the memorial into broader park improvements,\u201d Baweja said in an emailed statement.<\/p>\n
Baweja added that ensuring the memorial \u201cremains legible, recognizable and respected\u201d is a top priority for the city. This summer, the city is planning additional consultation \u201cto ensure diverse voices within HIV and AIDS communities continue to shape the design,\u201d Baweja said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe project team has worked hard to balance the needs of the many diverse stakeholders with interests in the park, and has approached community conversations with care, recognizing the need to build trust, which is part of the reason why the process has unfolded slowly over the last three years.\u201d<\/p>\n
David says the project is called Echoes because it reflects the reverberating memory of those who have died from AIDS, including whole families, couples and friend groups in the community. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are some people in that memorial for whom there\u2019s probably not a single person alive today that remembers them,\u201d says David. \u201cSo their echo is getting more and more distant, it\u2019s fading. The goal of this is to be a resonance chamber to amplify that echo again so they\u2019re no longer forgotten in the long run.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Elektra, the memorial is symbolic of something bigger than just a physical site. She says she supports the Echoes project because it\u2019s \u201ca road map of where we were and how far we\u2019ve come.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe memorial has a special place with me because I know, hopefully, my name will be added one day when I\u2019m gone,\u201d says Elektra. \u201cI want people to remember that I was here.\u201d<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 16, 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"flag wire: true flag sponsored: false article_type: pubinfo.section: cms.site.custom.site_domain : thestar.com sWebsitePrimaryPublication : publications\/toronto_star bHasMigratedAvatar : false firstAuthor.avatar…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":541528,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[12008,76,49,48,75,84,167829,26207,905,906,211314,715,3302],"class_list":["post-541527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-aids","tag-arts","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-health","tag-memorial","tag-ont","tag-ontario","tag-quebec","tag-quebec-social","tag-social","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=541527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/541528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=541527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=541527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=541527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}