Whereas the new Urban Square is positioned within Oshawa's downtown cultural district, surrounded by established arts and entertainment venues including the Biltmore Theatre, Regent Theatre, Robert McLaughlin Gallery, and the BOND|ST Event Centre; and,
Whereas the Urban Square will act as an outdoor cultural venue, complementing these facilities and serving as a flexible stage for live music, arts markets, and community festivals; and,
Whereas part of the Urban Square's intended role is as a place for public celebration, a venue for small concerts, festivals and cultural events that bring residents together in the heart of the city; and,
Whereas the City of Oshawa has a long and rich history of music, including and especially a vibrant rock music scene over almost 75 years of rock and roll, beat music, blues rock, hard rock, punk rock, heavy metal, 80s rock, alternative rock, folk rock, and many other sub-genres of rock music generally through changing historic periods of the genre, with countless musicians and performers, songwriters, venues, promoters, audiences, and others who contributed both to the City's own scene and went on to broader achievements regionally, nationally, and internationally; and,
Whereas among these many contributing and succeeding individuals, the McCrohan family made an outsized impact on the history of rock music in the City of Oshawa and far beyond in numerous ways, including the following:
- From 1932 until his death in 1981, Owen McCrohan managed the Jubilee Pavilion at Oshawa's lakefront and booked concerts and performers at this iconic venue throughout his tenure that brought well-known touring acts not only to Oshawa audiences but also visitors traveling to Oshawa to see them perform; and he also provided a performance venue for many Oshawa performers during a nascent period of what would eventually become Oshawa's rock music scene in the decades ahead.
- Owen McCrohan's son Dennis McCrohan would go on as a guitarist to co-found Oshawa band Jack London and the Sparrows in 1964 (later called just The Sparrows and then Sparrow), with brother Jerry McCrohan joining the group as drummer shortly thereafter. Sparrow would have several charting hits in Canada and eventually performed in the United States alongside bands such as the Doors, the Steve Miller Band, and others, until 1967. In their early performance years the two brothers adopted the last name "Edmonton" for stage names, and later in the 1960s Dennis would adopt the name Mars Bonfire.
- In 1967, members of Sparrow including brother Jerry formed the band Steppenwolf, while brother Dennis, or Mars Bonfire, stepped away to pursue a solo and songwriting career.
- During Jerry's tenure as Steppenwolf's drummer in the 1960s and 70s, he performed on at least 7 band studio albums including multiple albums that were certified gold and platinum, with singles that charted in Canada, the US, the UK, and internationally, including "Born To Be Wild", "Magic Carpet Ride", "Rock Me", and others, with the songs finding their way into film, television, and performances by other artists. His playing on these recordings in a period of early emergence of the rock and hard rock genres would go on to influence the playing of the next generation of rock drummers.
- In 1968, Mars Bonfire wrote the song "Born To Be Wild" and provided it to the band Steppenwolf. Their recording of the song in the same year went to number 1 in Canada and number 2 in the US and charted internationally as well as being certified gold in the US and platinum in the UK as a single. In 1969 it was featured in the Academy Award-nominated film "Easy Rider", cementing the song's widespread popularity.
- Bonfire's song and Steppenwolf's recording of it would go on to become an iconic song of an era and an anthem thereafter, this status being affirmed in multiple ways including:
- The song has been covered by countless artists over the years right up to the present, including covers by Etta James, Slade, The Cult, INXS, Kim Wilde, Bruce Springsteen, Slayer, Blue Oyster Cult, Wilson Pickett, Ozzy Osbourne with Miss Piggy, and many, many others both in live performance and studio recordings.
- The song is credited with coining the music genre label "heavy metal" for its use of the term in the lyrics.
- In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked the song 129th on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.
- For its placement in the film "Easy Rider", in 2004 the song was ranked 29th on the American Film Institute's listing of top 100 songs in American cinema of the 20th century.
- In 2015, SOCAN (The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada) awarded Bonfire the prestigious and first-ever Cultural Impact Award for the song at the 2015 SOCAN Awards.
- In 2018 the song was inducted as a single into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
- And in 2025, here in Oshawa, Bonfire was recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Durham Region Excellence in Arts Music and Sound Summit and Awards (known previously as the Oshawa Music Awards)
Whereas the history of the McCrohan family's contributions to the growth and evolution of Oshawa's music scene and their influence on the development and symbols of rock music and popular culture internationally have been significant and noteworthy, as affirmed by numerous awards and recognitions; and,
Whereas their name could be further described as emblematic of the importance of rock and roll music to the City of Oshawa's history and continued contributions to the genre and music generally;
Therefore be it resolved that based on Report SF-25-49 dated October 15, 2025, the Bond Simcoe Urban Square located at the northeast corner of Bond Street East and Simcoe Street North be named "McCrohan Music Square" to memorialize the significant impact of the McCrohan family on Oshawa's musical development and their contributions to music and culture internationally, and as an affirmation of the significant past, present, and future importance of music in Oshawa's identity, history, community fabric, and sense of pride.