ORANGEVILLE'S BROADWAY MEDIAN is soon to be completed, most likely

before the November election, but the source of funding will remain a secret until "all the money is in" and there's a dedication ceremony of some sort, according to Mayor Drew Brown.

From one perspective, this raises the ominous spectre that town council has allowed private interests to erect a monument down the centre of a public street without revealing who the private interests are.

The mayor's hesitation to announce names "until all the money is in" also raises the issue of interim financing to finish the job. In that sense, one might surmise that the town is proceeding to finish the project with taxpayer money in the hope of collecting the balance from the private interests who have taken control of a once-wide avenue of which everyone could be proud.

There is another side to the issue. Orangeville prides itself on being "handicap accessible." At the same time, the council dreams of a glorious Broadway with sidewalk cafes along with outdoor merchandise displays centred by a Main Street median as a showcase of fountains, trees, a clock and a statue of the town's founder.

We are sorry to say this, but not all of those things can be accommodated on Broadway.

In Orangeville, there are numerous senior citizens and other physically challenged persons using scooters, walkers, and wheelchairs. The sidewalks on the north side of Broadway are not wide enough to accommodate outdoor cafes, merchandise, pedestrians and handicap appliances all at the same time.

If the Town fathers were truly concerned about the plight of physically challenged persons, they would have also asked the donors (investors?) for the median to cough up money to widen sidewalks, build ramps at retail stores, and otherwise to do something to legitimize our handicap-access boast.

Here's the real rub. Is it better to be known as a caring town, or as one that plants trees in the middle of the street and erects monuments, clocks and statues for persons without handicaps to look at?