Group of volunteers restore Heart of Uptown following vandalization

A group of volunteers got together Saturday to restore a beloved art installation in Waterloo after it was vandalized.

“We found out that it got vandalized,” said Jeyas Balaskanthan, executive director of the Uptown Waterloo Business Improvement Area (BIA). “So one of my team members came into the office and said, ‘see what happened to the heart?’ And we walked on over here to see that it was spray painted three quarters all in black.”

“I was just really sad like why? It seemed so pointless because it's not like a negative symbol,” said clean up volunteer, Natasha Krahn.

The BIA says the Heart of Uptown was vandalized sometime Wednesday night.

“Whoever did that, if they come forward, we want to chat with them once,” said Balaskanthan. “We're not going to look for punitive stuff. We just want to have a conversation and learn what was the purpose of doing this.”

They say they are reviewing security footage from the area to try to determine who is behind the vandalism. Waterloo Regional Police are investigating.

But in the meantime, they say they have received an outpouring of support.

“[It’s] just a very large monument of a lot of significant things in the city. And I think it's really important that we're showing whoever did this, that we're a community,” said clean up volunteer, Charlotte Mollitor.

“I'm just glad that they gave us the opportunity to come and help clean it to sort of help reclaim it,” added Krahn.

The Heart of Uptown was unveiled in November 2023, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the BIA.

It was installed with the help of the City of Waterloo using funding from the Regional Tourism Organization 4.

It was designed and manufactured by BOKO with structural engineering services provided by Witzel Dyce Engineering.

“The creator, he's, his local. I FaceTimed him; he was very sad. And unfortunately, he couldn't be here today. He wanted to make it, there was a lot of strategic thought [that] went into creating this art,” explained Balaskanthan.

Despite the damage, the BIA says the overwhelming outpouring of support proves the installation still holds its place as a community centerpiece.

“I just love it as an installation,” said Krahn. “And we do a lot of our shopping in Uptown Waterloo. So it just symbolizes like this is the literal heart of Waterloo.”