Peace Garden
The Hamilton “Peace Garden”, situated behind City Hall on Bay and Hunter Streets, was completed in 2021. It is the culmination of years of effort among a group of citizens to establish a dedicated municipal space where people can enjoy a contemplative outdoor garden that gives symbolic expression to the naming by City Council in 2013 of Hamilton as a “City of Peace”. That same year (2013) representatives of Hamilton’s Culture of Peace group received permission to install a “peace pole” with a couple of benches in the undeveloped green space behind City Hall. Subsequently, the city allocated funds to further develop and beautify the garden with native trees, shrubs and flowers, and added a winding pathway inviting passers-by to enter the garden from two sides. In addition, a granite stone inscribed with symbols of Hamilton’s diverse Faith communities encircling a peace dove, donated by the Hamilton Interfaith Peace Group, was also installed in the Peace Garden. The granite boulder suggests the respect members of the Hamilton community have for one another.