The Memorial – Construction – National Wall of Remembrance

The Memorial – Construction

The National Wall of Remembrance Association, along with the City of Kingston has now completed the approval stages, and are working toward a final design that will nest itself right in the waterfront area of Kingston, near the Murney Martello Tower at the Sir John A. Macdonald Park. Preliminary work will start in Spring 2023.

It is our intent to capture the entire construction phase and showcase it here on a regular basis as it progresses, starting with an archaeological verification process and then an initial sod turning ceremony with City of Kingston officials, Indigenous Community and VIPs, we will go through various construction phases and end with the final unveiling ceremony which hopefully will take place prior to Remembrance Day 2024.

: After the event – dignitaries, some NWORA Board members and other project affiliated personnel. From left to right: Jenna Neilson (Student Architect); Jennifer Demitor (Project Architect); Cathy Sharpe (VP Operations, iMedia Northside Inc); Jonathan Clarke (Shareholder, iMedia Northside Inc); Conny Glenn (District Councillor – Sydenham, City of Kingston); Bryan Paterson (Mayor, City of Kingston); Gary Coulter (Chair, National Wall of Remembrance Association); Mark Gerretsen (Member of Parliament, Kingston and the Islands); Ted Hsu (Member of Provincial Parliament, Kingston and the Islands); Louis Cyr (NWORA Secretary/Treasurer); Bruce Ewing (NWORA Vice Chair); Debra St-Gelais (a NWORA Director); Don Kerstens (General Contractor for the Project build).

: Although we’re now in the 21st century, the methodology has not changed for the past one hundred years. It’s all manual labour using screens and going through the dirt by hand. In this case, as it was a Stage 3 requirement because of the significant history of this site, they went down about 40 cm, reaching the non-sedimentary soil. A few artifacts were found, such as small broken ceramics estimated around early to mid-19thcentury, but no structural foundations were found. The Ministry of Citizenship and Multiculturalism is the final authority for approval of the report from Past Recovery.