 Townsend Retraced, Screen Shot 3, 2005 (84 KB)
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It was intended to accommodate an anticipated urban population of over 100,000 people in response to the intense industrial development in nearby Nanticoke. Townsend, a sleepy farming community outside of major transportation routes, saw the Ontario government spend an estimated $23.6 million on land purchases to accommodate the City of Townsend expected to flourish there. But by the mid-1980s, it was apparent that the projected urban population was not going to materialize. The government sold off the surplus land it had purchased and now, 30 years later, Townsend consists of a small community with a row of "model homes" without access to even the most basic services: retail or corner stores, post offices, or restaurants. The artists of the Townsend Retraced project, Laura Cunningham, Hilary Martin and Stefan Rose, examine the way this utopian vision has affected the existing rural community. Though there are few visible traces in the town itself of that planned utopia, it haunts the town that lies there today like a ghost. Townsend Retraced uses a map of the area today as a starting point for people to explore what could have been. Townsend Retraced was exhibited in Simcoe, ON in 2004. A multi-disciplinary collaborative documentary project, it examined the long-term impact of failed city planning upon a farming community. It was produced by the Furrowed Brow Collective, based in Southwestern Ontario. |
| Townsend Retraced, Screen Shot 3, 2005 |  |
