Plans to build a monument in Ottawa to commemorate the donation of the Stanley Cup are back on track.
Lord Stanley’s Gift Memorial Monument is partnering with the NHL, Ottawa Senators, Government of Canada and City of Ottawa to bring the project – seven years in the making – to fruition.
In a joint announcement March 18, they launched a national design competition for the monument. The winner will be announced in November 2016, and the monument will be unveiled in December 2017.
“Not only is it the 125th anniversary of the Stanley Cup, but also the Senators 25th and the 100th of the NHL – all during Canada’s 150th,” Sens owner and CEO Eugene Melnyk said in a press release.
The project has faced challenges, including low fundraising and the death of the driving force behind it, local hockey historian Paul Kitchen, last year.
The monument is expected to cost $4.2 million, the Ottawa Citizen reported.
The federal government is giving $2.15 million, the Sens, $500,000, the NHL, $250,000, and the city, $50,000. Members of the community pulled through $1.25 million.
The monument will go at the corner of Sparks and Elgin streets – a fitting location considering that’s where the announcement that Lord Stanley was donating cup in 1892 was originally made.
Once built, the monument will be gifted to the City of Ottawa.