UTAA gift continues century-long tradition of alumni support for St. George campus.

Posted on June 9, 2017

The University of Toronto is home to one of the most iconic green spaces in the city and now, through the Landmark Project, it plans to re-imagine this space, creating a welcoming and cohesive landscape befitting U of T’s status as one of the world’s great universities.

With the launch of the campaign for the Landmark Project comes a significant announcement: the University of Toronto Alumni Association (UTAA) is, in partnership with the University, providing a $2 million lead gift. The UTAA is committing $1 million and the University is contributing the other $1 million from a portion of unrestricted funds already raised through the Boundless campaign.

“There’s a generational quality to this gift,” says Scott MacKendrick, President of the UTAA. “The re-development of the St. George campus is going to have a significant impact: enlivening student life and increasing the sense of pride alumni have in their university. And the Landmark Project’s effect is not temporary; the changes to be made will still be enjoyed by students and alumni a hundred years from now.”

The Landmark Project aims to integrate the core of the St. George campus, uniting four historic areas—King’s College Circle, Hart House Circle, Sir Daniel Wilson Quadrangle and the Back Campus—and making the campus a more inspiring place in which to live, work, and visit for alumni, students, faculty, visitors and area residents.

Over time, paved roadways, parking lots and new buildings have been introduced to the campus, fragmenting green space. Once the project is complete, parking on King’s College Circle will be moved underground, and existing roadways will be replaced with elegant granite pavers. A “necklace” of pathways, dotted with gardens and seating, will wind its way to several new public spaces along the circle. New plazas will become gathering places for students, alumni and visitors outside the J. Robert S. Prichard Alumni House, Convocation Hall, the Medical Sciences Building and Hart House. The revitalized campus will strengthen U of T’s robust relationship with Toronto’s diverse communities by opening up the approaches to the campus core from Queen’s Park and Back Campus.

“We are delighted and proud to partner with the UTAA on this gift,” says Meric Gertler, President of the University of Toronto. “For more than a century, the UTAA and our alumni community have played an outsized role in shaping this campus. We are grateful to the UTAA for continuing that great legacy by making a lead gift to the Landmark Project.”

Donors who get involved in this exciting initiative will be part of a historic opportunity to reimagine the St. George campus for generations of students and alumni, as well as city residents. A variety of gift recognition opportunities are available, including new plazas, pavilions, trees, benches, gardens and granite pavers. These opportunities offer a unique and meaningful way to honour a loved one or celebrate a milestone. For example, a $1,000 donation will support the placement of an engraved paver.

The pace-setting gift from the UTAA builds on significant support from alumni to some of the University’s most iconic buildings. In 1907, UTAA contributed to the construction of Convocation Hall, and more recently, assisted in its renovation.  After World War I, alumni provided the funds to build Soldiers’ Tower.

The UTAA’s gift to Landmark is deliberately undesignated, signifying their support of the project as a whole, and providing the University with the freedom to use the donation in a manner that best assists the project’s goals.

The University aims to raise $20 million towards this project with the support of our community. To find out more about the many opportunities to get involved, please visit www.landmark.utoronto.ca.