NEWS RELEASE
Grand Parade Cenotaph Restoration Complete
(Friday, November 6, 2009) - The Grand Parade Cenotaph restoration project that began in July will be completed on schedule prior to the November 11th Remembrance Day Ceremony.
The project began as a cleaning and masonry repointing exercise in mid-summer, but over the course of this process it was determined that water infiltration over the past 80 years had caused significant erosion of the monument’s foundation. It was determined by HRM staff in consultation with material and technical specialists that the most responsible course of action was to dismantle the monument completely, restore the integrity of the foundation, install proper drainage to forestall future degradation and to rebuild the structure, all prior to the event on November 11th.
The contract for this project was awarded to Wildwood Masonry through a tender process. Members of Wildwood’s staff worked in close consultation with a local heritage conservator throughout this process. A portion of the project budget has been funded by Veterans Affairs Canada.
HRM staff have maintained regular communication with representatives of Veterans Affairs Canada, the Department of National Defence and the Royal Canadian Legion throughout this process.
The Grand Parade Cenotaph was built in 1929 by Scottish-born American artist Massey Rhind, a prominent sculptor whose major commemorative works include the Monument to the Grand Army of the Republic and major sculptural elements of Grant’s Tomb, both in Washington DC, amongst countless others. The Grand Parade Cenotaph was commissioned to commemorate the sacrifices of Nova Scotians during the First World War, and later came to include reference to lives lost during both the Second World War and the Korean War. It is the most prominent war memorial in the region and the site of Atlantic Canada’s largest Remembrance Day ceremony.
30
Contact:
Shaune MacKinlay
Manager, Public Affairs
Halifax Regional Municipality
(902) 490-4010
Jamie MacLellan
Public Art Facilitator
Halifax Regional Municipality
(902) 490-1039
