A firefighters monument was unveiled at city hall in early September.
No sooner was the Ottawa Fire Fighters Memorial Park unveiled in front of city hall in September, than a long-awaited plan to build another monument – this time honouring all fallen Canadian firefighters – was finalized with the promise of federal funding.
The National Capital Commission allocated land for the Canadian Firefighters Memorial in LeBreton Flats, near the Canadian War Museum. The announcement of the location came in mid-September, after the federal government committed $2.5 million toward the $4.5 million tab. The project is to be completed by 2012.
“There is no national memorial to honour these guys,” says Doug Lock, treasurer of the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation. “We haven’t been silent.”
The memorial will pay tribute to 970 Canadian firefighters who have lost their lives in the line of duty since 1848, including 10 who died last year.
According to Kathryn Keyes, senior advisor of communications at the NCC, LeBreton Flats is integral to Ottawa’s fire history. Keyes says the monument will be located on the exact spot where the Great Fire of 1900 was extinguished, after it tore through Ottawa, destroying 1,400 buildings and killing seven people along the way.
The historic waterfront is undergoing a residential, commercial and institutional facelift by the NCC after years of soil contamination by industry. This renovation included the development of the Canadian War Museum.
“It’s another element that is bringing life to the area,” Keyes says about the Canadian Firefighters Memorial. “Slowly, that area is starting to transform itself with different layers of symbolism.”
Next on the agenda is selecting the memorial’s design through a juried competition, launching this fall.
Plans for the national memorial come after the unveiling of the Ottawa Fire Fighters Memorial Park, which stands on Marion Dewar Place in front of city hall, in honour of Ottawa’s fallen firefighters.
“Originally, the city had presented us with a tree. We had a little bit more in mind,” Lanna O’Brien, director of the Ottawa Fire Fighters Community Foundation, says.
Two stainless steel firefighters stand on a concrete base, clad in gear and helmets. One cradles a child in his arms while the other stands in position, holding a firehose.
The foundation still seeks donations for a granite base and brass plaques. Future plans include making the firefighter’s hose functional, by having it spray water.