Light display will mark 111th anniversary of Sudbury's Flour Mill silos

Silos in the Flour Mill community of Greater Sudbury. (File)

Sudbury -

Officials in Greater Sudbury's Flour Mill community are hoping to do something special this summer.

Officials want to commemorate the 111th anniversary of the area's grain silos on Notre Dame Avenue with a special light display.

A motion headed to city council this week would permit the display, a necessary step since the silos are designated as heritage properties and there are restrictions on making changes to the property.

The idea surfaced in June 2019, when the Flour Mill Business Improvement Association (FM-BIA) and Flour Mill Community Access Network group (FM-CAN) approached city staff about the display lighting project.

"The intent is to project a static display onto each of the four sides of the silos using equipment mounted on nearby structures," said a staff report on the proposal.

"The equipment needs to be mounted a minimum of 8m from the silos, and the group has been in discussion with the neighbouring property owners to mount the equipment on their structures."

The city set aside funding in the 2022 budget to pay for the site preparation for the display. That includes removing trees and vegetation; repairs and reworking supports for the fencing; repairs and sealing off access to crawlspace; and, the removal and scaling of loose concrete and bricks at height.

The grain silos were designated as heritage properties in 1990, meaning the property can't be altered "if the alteration is likely to affect the property’s heritage attributes."

Staff concluded the anniversary light show is very unlikely to cause any harm.

City council will vote on the plan Jan. 25. Read the report here.