Toronto Sign

Originally installed for the 2015 Pan American Games as a temporary attraction meant to be dismantled in November 2016 at the earliest, the City of Toronto decided to continue to operate the sign after it became popular with tourists and residents.{{cite news| last1=Rider| first1=David| title='Toronto' sign will stay in square until at least fall| url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/06/22/toronto-sign-will-stay-in-square-until-at-least-fall.html| access-date=June 24, 2016| work=Toronto Star| date=June 22, 2016| archive-date=June 24, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624104643/https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/06/22/toronto-sign-will-stay-in-square-until-at-least-fall.html| url-status=live}} Explaining the city's decision to keep it, Councillor Norm Kelly said the sign is as iconic as the CN Tower and that it has become known all over the world.{{cite news| last1=Smee| first1=Michael| title=Toronto sign will light up Nathan Phillips Square until at least November| url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-sign-staying-put-1.3647386| access-date=June 26, 2016| publisher=CBC News| date=June 22, 2016| archive-date=June 25, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625200123/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-sign-staying-put-1.3647386| url-status=live}} It had appeared in an estimated 120 million photographs in various social media outlets by June 2016.

Having an estimated three- to five-year lifespan, the sign began to show signs of wear and tear by June 2016. Toronto City Council rejected spending another {{CAD|150,000}} on the sign, and city staff proposed replacing the sign with a permanent version. The sign was vandalized in October 2016 during the overnight Nuit Blanche event. Graffiti was applied using permanent markers, but Nuit Blanche employees were able to remove the graffiti.{{cite news |work=Toronto Star |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/10/02/toronto-sign-vandalized-overnight.html |date=October 2, 2016 |title=Toronto sign vandalized overnight |first=Ebyan |last=Abdigir |access-date=January 8, 2017 |archive-date=January 9, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109022302/https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/10/02/toronto-sign-vandalized-overnight.html |url-status=live }}

A 3D maple leaf was added to the Toronto sign adjacent to the final "O" in December 2016 to mark the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation.{{cite news| title=Maple leaf added to Toronto Sign| url=http://www.torontosun.com/2016/12/31/maple-leaf-added-to-toronto-sign| newspaper=Toronto Sun| access-date=January 5, 2017| date=December 31, 2016| archive-date=January 5, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170105084345/http://www.torontosun.com/2016/12/31/maple-leaf-added-to-toronto-sign| url-status=live}} The sign was modified again in 2018 to mark National Indigenous Peoples Day. The change added a 3D pan–First Nations medicine wheel adjacent to the first "T" and new vinyl wraps for each letter consisting of a birch bark pattern with various First Nations symbols on them.{{cite web|url=http://urbantoronto.ca/news/2018/06/toronto-sign-refinished-honour-indigenous-peoples|title=TORONTO Sign Refinished to Honour Indigenous Peoples - Urban Toronto|website=urbantoronto.ca|access-date=June 23, 2018|archive-date=November 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125113257/https://urbantoronto.ca/news/2018/06/toronto-sign-refinished-honour-indigenous-peoples|url-status=live}} The wraps were removed, while the medicine wheel remains.

The sign experienced more wear in early 2017, due to uneven erosion at the bases of each of the three Os from hundreds of thousands of posing feet from those wanting to take pictures with the sign, exposing the black rubber padding underneath.{{cite news| url=https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2017/04/09/toronto-sign-showing-its-age.html| title=TORONTO sign showing its age| last=Rider| first=David| date=April 9, 2017| work=Toronto Star| access-date=September 1, 2017| archive-date=August 4, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170804040746/https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2017/04/09/toronto-sign-showing-its-age.html| url-status=live}} In 2019, Toronto City Council reaffirmed its plan to replace the original sign with a robust, permanent structure. A resident of the rural community of Orono in Clarington, located east of Toronto, has requested that the original sign be donated to Orono.{{Cite web | title=Orono wants Toronto's big sign — minus the Ts | work=CBC | date=September 5, 2019 | access-date=September 20, 2019 | url=https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-thursday-edition-1.5271622/orono-wants-toronto-s-sign-minus-the-ts-1.5271627 | archive-date=September 7, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190907045626/https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-thursday-edition-1.5271622/orono-wants-toronto-s-sign-minus-the-ts-1.5271627 | url-status=live }}

On September 10, 2020, John Tory, the then–mayor of Toronto, officially announced that the sign was to be replaced with a permanent version by Toronto-based Unit 11 for $760,000, which includes the cost to remove the old sign, and is funded by both city reserve "rainy-day" funds and civic crowdfunding. The new sign would be easier to maintain and have augmented lighting capacity.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2020/09/10/battered-toronto-sign-to-be-replaced-by-permanent-new-letters-at-a-cost-of-760000.html|title=Battered TORONTO sign to be replaced by permanent new letters — at a cost of $760,000|date=September 10, 2020|website=thestar.com|access-date=September 11, 2020|archive-date=September 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200910184140/https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2020/09/10/battered-toronto-sign-to-be-replaced-by-permanent-new-letters-at-a-cost-of-760000.html|url-status=live}} The new sign was unveiled by Tory on September 18, 2020, and featured a wrap to commemorate the United Nations' International Decade for People of African Descent.{{Cite web|title=New 'Toronto' sign unveiled at Nathan Phillips Square|url=https://globalnews.ca/news/7343667/new-toronto-sign-unveiled/|access-date=September 18, 2020|website=Global News|archive-date=October 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031230407/https://globalnews.ca/news/7343667/new-toronto-sign-unveiled/|url-status=live}}

Although the Toronto Sign is not an original idea—several European cities had erected similar signs in prior years—a local marketing consultant filed a lawsuit claiming he presented the idea to the city and staff before the city unveiled plans for the sign.{{cite news| url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/04/04/toronto-sign-subject-of-new-lawsuit.html| title=Consultant's $2.5-million lawsuit claims he conceived Toronto sign| work=Toronto Star| last=Warren| first=May| date=April 4, 2016| access-date=September 1, 2017| archive-date=September 2, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902050134/https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/04/04/toronto-sign-subject-of-new-lawsuit.html| url-status=live}} Named in the {{CAD|2.5-million}} lawsuit is the City of Toronto government as well as Mayor Tory and councillors Josh Colle and Michael Thompson. The statement of defence, filed February 19, 2016, argues the concept itself is nothing new, and therefore the suit should be dismissed: "Interactive, three-dimensional signs bearing the name of a city are commonplace around the world. They can be found in Amsterdam, Guadalajara, Budapest, Istanbul and many other cities".{{cite web| date=April 4, 2016| last=Csanady| first=Ashley| url=https://nationalpost.com/news/toronto/did-the-city-steal-the-idea-for-its-toronto-sign-mayor-councillors-and-city-face-2-5m-lawsuit-over-concept/wcm/5352ea23-a166-4394-ac1c-5ac97f06c433| title=Did the city steal the idea for its Toronto sign? Mayor, councillors and city face $2.5M lawsuit over concept| work=National Post| access-date=September 1, 2017}}

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{{cite news |work=CityNews |title=Iconic Toronto sign starting to show wear, needs funding to survive |url=https://toronto.citynews.ca/2016/06/21/iconic-toronto-sign-starting-to-show-wear-needs-funding-to-survive/ |date=June 21, 2016 |access-date=January 8, 2017 |archive-date=June 26, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170626132851/http://www.citynews.ca/2016/06/21/iconic-toronto-sign-starting-to-show-wear-needs-funding-to-survive/ |url-status=live }}

{{cite web| title=3D TORONTO Sign| url=http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=bfc0ba44d6961510VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD| website=Special Events Office| publisher=City of Toronto| access-date=January 5, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161206000237/http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=bfc0ba44d6961510VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD| archive-date=December 6, 2016| url-status=dead}}

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{{Commons category|3D TORONTO sign in Nathan Phillips Square}}

{{Portal|Canada|Ontario}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20170109113047/http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=88f3a184e3e8e410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD City of Toronto media release about the sign]

{{Toronto landmarks}}

Category:Individual signs

Category:Public art in Toronto