Albert Campbell Square is a public square in Scarborough City Centre in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada. It is named after Albert Campbell, the first mayor of the Borough of Scarborough and former Chairman of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto. Albert Campbell Square is located at 150 Borough Drive, adjacent to the Scarborough Civic Centre south of Scarborough Centre station and Scarborough Town Centre shopping mall.
Who is Albert Campbell?
Campbell was born on a family farm in Ridgetown, Ontario, in 1910 to John M. Campbell and Isabella McTaggart. He attended the Ontario Agricultural College at Guelph and graduated with a B.S.C. from the University of Toronto in 1933. After leaving the family farm, he was, for almost 15 years, a secondary school teacher teaching chemistry, physics, and math. In 1944, he moved to Scarborough to settle on his wife’s family farm (Helen E. Huber), which they inherited after her uncle’s death, James G. Cornell, the same year.
Campbell’s political career began as a Scarborough (public) school board trustee in 1950, then as councilor for Ward 3 (Scarborough Village) and as deputy reeve. In 1957, Campbell became reeve of the township of Scarborough for the next 11 years. When the township was incorporated as a borough in 1967, he became its first mayor from 1967 to 1969.
On October 1, 1969, he was elected by the Metropolitan Toronto council to the position of chairman, defeating former North York reeve Norman C. Goodhead by 21 votes to 11 on the third ballot. He was re-elected to the position unanimously in January 1972 but was ill with cancer. He retired on July 30, 1973, and died shortly after that. During his career, he served as president of the Canadian Federation of Mayors and Municipalities, the Ontario Municipal Association, and the Association of Ontario Mayors and Reeves. A1 Bed Bug Exterminator Scarborough
Features
Albert Campbell Square was modeled after Nathan Phillips Square (built 1965) in Downtown Toronto and, in turn, inspired Mel Lastman Square (built 1998) in North York City Centre. Part of Albert Campbell Square is an outdoor ice rink, which held its status of being Scarborough’s only permanent outdoor ice rink until the construction of an outdoor ice rink at McCowan District Park began in 2014.
Events
Albert Campbell Square has hosted several events. It has served as the starting point of the annual Scarborough Canada Day Parade, one of two Canada Day parades produced by the City of Toronto government. On 11 July 1980, crowds gathered at Albert Campbell Square to witness the arrival of Canadian athlete Terry Fox, the whose scheduled stop was at Scarborough Civic Centre during his Marathon of Hope. On 24 July 2016, Rick Tocchet, a right-wing player of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Scarborough native, exhibited the Stanley Cup at the square after the team won the 2016 Stanley Cup Finals. The square has been a popular venue for multicultural events, including the Scarborough Afro-Carib Festival (2001–present), Scarborough Community Multicultural Festival (2015–2017), and the Sri Lankan Kothu Fest (2015–present).
Address: 1550 Sandhurst Cir, Scarborough, ON
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