Paying tribute to former Ottawa mayor and peace activist Marion Dewar, Festival Plaza will be renamed Marion Dewar Plaza next spring.
City council made the decision last week after consultations with the Dewar family.
The plaza is a space located between city hall and Laurier Avenue across from Confederation Park and is the home of many festivals and events such as Winterlude, Bluesfest and the mayor's annual Christmas celebration.
Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien discussed the plaza's renaming on his personal blog last Friday.
"Although I only met her on a few occasions, it was clear by the tributes from all who knew her that she was more worthy of dedication," he said.
Dewar, who died Sept.15 after a serious fall in Toronto, served as Ottawa's mayor from 1978 to 1985 and was an NDP member of Parliament from 1986 to 1988.
As mayor, Dewar campaigned against nuclear disarmament and fought to improve low-income housing and childcare. She also launched Project 4000, trying to find sponsors for 4,000 Vietnamese refugees living in Ottawa.
After her political career, Dewar sat as executive director of the Canadian Council on Children and Youth and the chair of Oxfam Canada. In 2002, then governor general Adrienne Clarkson named Dewar a member of the Order of Canada.