A momentous moment will happen in downtown Barrie the week of Aug. 14.
That’s the week when the cenotaph will be relocated to the bottom of Owen Street, a more high-profile site than where it’s been located since June 1922, nearer the corner of Fred Grant Street.
Proposed a more than a decade ago by commercial master planner Patti Xenos – whose portfolio includes the Village at Mont-Tremblant and Les Arcs 1950 in the French Alps (both Intrawest projects) – the moving of the monument is a cornerstone in the redevelopment of the public space that will link Dunlop Street with the waterfront.
The memorial, which consists of three pieces, measures 23 feet high, plus a nine-foot statue of a soldier on top. Made of granite, the main monument is Stanstead granite, while the soldier is made from local granite.
It features two side pieces, engraved with the names of the fallen who served in both World War I and World II and the Korean War. Kevin McKay, a peacekeeper killed in Afghanistan, is also remembered on the memorial. The memorial lists them in honour rolls for Barrie, Vespra and Innisfil.
This week, crews moved both side pieces of the memorial from their long-standing place, while they left the fallen soldier in place so calculations about its weight – and therefore, the height of the crane required to move it – can be done.
“It’s a beautiful piece, a very beautiful piece,” said Rutherford Construction’s site superintend John Van Lierop.
Crews are now working on a new foundation for the entire cenotaph, “a better foundation than what it was on,” he added, noting if you look at the soldier, you can see only the first three feet of the foundation. He added it goes down at least another three feet, with the base possibly measuring as much as seven feet.
Rutherford Construction’s crews will be working with a monument specialist, Western Mechanical.
“He’s the best in the business,” Van Lierop said of the Barrie-based company.
Work on the new foundation is underway.
“We’re hoping, weather permitting, (to move it) some time in the week of the 14th,” said Van Lierop.
“Rain has affected us, slowed us down. We’re trying not to quit. We have a good group of guys and are trying to make it happen at all times."
He noted the work won’t be finished by Remembrance Day; the project has a spring 2018 completion date.
“We will make sure there’s an area for people to stand for Nov. 11, whether it’s gravel or not. We will have some sort of standing area, which is very important.
“I hope to have some of the seats and walls around the cenotaph and if possible, some concrete (work completed). I don’t know where yet, because of the way the weather has been going.”
While the crews are having to work to create a new, more solid base for the memorial in the sandy soils that are prevalent throughout the city core, Van Lierop said those same soils can be a blessing, especially in this summer’s sudden downpours.
“It dries fairly quickly. It’s not as bad as clay (which turns into mud),” he said.
As they set the groundwork for the $3.8-million makeover, crews are also working on storm sewer pipes that will cross through the site, as well as regarding for the green space that will feature pedestrian pathways on either side of the new park.
Memorial Square will rise up to be level with Dunlop Street and the new Meridian Place, which feature a space that can be linked with Heritage Park during special events and performances, is being made level with Simcoe Street.
Between Memorial Square and Meridian Place, there will steps as a part of a historical feature referencing the Nine Mile Portage as well as a canopied stage that faces Kempenfelt Bay.
Events can be larger with the new Meridian Square area flowing seamlessly, when the Simcoe Street is closed for events, into Heritage Park.
Used to reading plans, Van Lierop can envision what the public space will be, although now his crews use heavy machines to move around the dirt and dig holes for the foundations, water pipes and storm sewers.
“It’ll look beautiful in here. I can picture it,” he said.
