Ancaster / Flower Mural
- Jun 10
- 2 min read
I refer to the on street mural at the intersection of Ancaster Ave. and Flower Ave. as the Woodpark Welcome Mat. It has been there since July 2014 and with the exception of 2024 it has been refreshed every spring/summer. The pavement was just too rough to refresh it in 2024. Our Councillor managed to get the intersection repaved in 2025 so we had a fresh canvas. It was originally approved as a traffic calming measure. Other communities have taken the idea and run with it.
If it seems that the mural doesn't last as long as it used to, you are not wrong. In the early 2010s Federal volatile organic compounds (VOC) regulations for architectural coatings, including traffic-marking coatings, came into force. Over time the provinces have transitioned to waterborne or other environmentally compliant paints for road surfaces. This includes the paints we use for the mural. Combine this with winter plowing, increase traffic through the intersection and the mural is really only “fresh” for a couple of months.
In our recent events survey, the mural ranked only as a medium priority. All this leads to the question “Do we continue with the mural refresh event?” One the plus side of things, as a primary entrance to it is a wonderful welcome to Woodpark. The painting event itself is a fun event that brings our community together. On the minus side it takes a great deal of effort to organize and execute. While we have always managed to fund raise the costs to cover the event (about one third of our annual expenditures) it is expensive and those funds may be better used to support other events.
We want to hear your thoughts about the mural. Should we continue? Should we let it fade away? Are there other locations that might be suited for a similar mural? Once the LRT stage 2 is complete we will have new asphalt outside the New Orchard station. Should we move to that location? What are some other ideas?
Please let us know your thoughts by commenting below or send an email with the subject “Street Mural” to woodpark@woodpark.ca,
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