The Great Canadian Flag
2015
As a member of the Rotary Club of Windsor 1918 Joseph Passa, as part of a committee to evolve a Rotary Civic Project, suggested to have a large Canadian Flag installed at the end of Ouellette Avenue on the Riverfront. Back in the 1990’s he had a car load of visitors from out of the country and while they descended the overpass coming into the downtown they felt that Detroit was part of Windsor which was clearly in view. He mentioned at that time that we needed a large flag to say this is where Canada stops and that is the United States beyond. While a member of the City Centre Revitalization Task Force from 1996 to 1999 Joseph Passa held a city wide competition called “Where Main Street Meets the Waters Edge” where he suggested the large Canadian Flag as a starting point. Numerous students from the local college as well as many community members suggested various options for the location ranging from electronic displays, lights and physical structures. Passa Architects worked initially with the committee providing photomontages of the flag from the street and eventually the Great Canadian Flag was installed to the delight of the community in 2017.