With another St. Patrick’s Day and the massive party in Waterloo looming, the mayor’s Large Street Gathering Task Force presented its findings to council on Monday.
Crowds for the unsanctioned St. Patrick’s Day street party have grown from 5,000 to 7,000 in 2015 to a peak of 33,000 last year with thousands also attending the homecoming party on Ezra Avenue as well.
City council accepted a report on Monday from the task force, which aims to put an end to the massive gatherings that include students from Waterloo’s three post-secondary institutions.
Mayor Dave Jaworsky noted the positives for Waterloo being home to the schools but noted the one glaring issue.
“All the benefits and you think about that and we have one issue,” he said. “One big issue but one issue.”
He continued: “I’m convinced that the task force itself has left no stone unturned.”
The task force — which included representatives from the three local post-secondary schools, Grand River Hospital, emergency services, community members and students — presented its findings to city council on Monday night, including 12 recommendations and 40 action items to put an end to the St. Patrick’s Day and homecoming parties.
Among the more notable options are exploring the idea of making Ezra Avenue home to more of a mixed population as well as closing the street to redesign it to become more pedestrian-friendly.
The report also recommends attempting a culture shift to move these parties from being a “rite of passage” for students to being a responsible celebration.
“The rite of passage is a celebration of something special in your life, and this is not something. It’s a selfie moment at most,” Jaworsky said. “And that’s what needs to disappear.”
While some might question why the street parties need to end, the task force points to the safety of both partygoers and emergency services as well as the cost to the various emergency services ($750,000 annually) as two of the reasons. A third is property damage and cleanup costs, as well as nuisance to people who live in the area.
“We don’t want this to be a blot on the education experience that we offer here in Waterloo,” Jaworsky noted.
A city spokesperson told Global News that the changes will take a few years to be implemented.
“In the next month we will engage the Town and Gown steering committee to advance the needed working group and move into the implementation phase,” Tony Iavarone said. “We’re look forward to working with the institutions, student unions, first responders and resident reps to change the trajectory on these events,”