Chatham-Kent’s heritage committee has no problem with Chatham’s cenotaph and the iconic “Johnny Canuck” statue atop the monument getting a good cleaning.
At the May 18 committee meeting, members heard from local historian Jerry Hind and C-K manager of parks and open spaces, Jeff Bray.
Hind addressed the committee briefly, being allotted only about five minutes of time, but regularly provided insight throughout the discussion.
“Chatham’s cenotaph is one unique piece of property. It’s the only cenotaph in Canada that sits on a battlefield,” he said, referring to the skirmish through Chatham in the War of 1812 as the Americans chased Chief Tecumseh and British and native forces up the Thames River.
The monument was commissioned in 1922 and completed in the fall of 1923. Hind said he believes it was sometime in the 1980s when the mis-spelled word “Rememberance” was added to the monument.
The recent realization of that spelling error and resulting widespread public disdain over the decades-old mistake led to the effort that ultimately saw the municipality qualify for a grant from Veterans’ Affairs to clean the monument and correct the gaffe.
Hind and Bray both urged the committee to not bother to fix “Rememberance.”
“It is what it is. I think it would be a mistake to alter it,” Hind said. “Anything done to change it would deface another element of the monument.”
Hind said to remove the word, someone would have to gouge it out of the granite.
“‘Rememberance’ doesn’t matter to me. It adds uniqueness. I got direction because of all the complaints,” Bray told the committee.
The two differed, however, on the cleaning of the bronze statue. Hind recommended nothing be done, while Bray said experts he has spoken with advise cleaning the bronze statue by hand, with a mild detergent.
“The sulphides from exhaust, even bird poop, can have toxins in it,” he said. “When we’re cleaning it, we can do an inspection to see if there are any flaws.”
The committee also discussed adding lead back to the lettering on the First World War inscription on the monument – about 158 letters, Hind said. Bray would not disclose the anticipated price of the work, but he told the committee the price point was neither high, nor low, but rather “medium,” and was something outside the scope of the federal funding.
“Does anyone remember ever seeing the leading,” Hind asked.
Committee member Brad Eagen agreed.
“If the average person wouldn’t notice, what’s the point,” he asked of adding lead back into the statue.
Legion representative Len Maynard attended the meeting, and at the committee’s request, provided input.
The military veteran said the Legion recommends leaving the lack of leading as it is.
“But the stone work definitely needs the work,” he said.
Maynard would also like to see some upgrades built around the monument to better protect it from the human elements.
“I walked by it one day and a gentleman had his bumper up on the second step,” he said in disgust.
Bray said such work is outside the scope of the federal funding, but he understands Maynard’s concerns.
Following Maynard’s comments, the committee voted not to put lead back onto the monument.
Bray said the Veterans’ Affairs funding is specifically for the cleaning and repointing of the granite and the cleaning of the statue.
Ultimately, Eagen put forth a motion for the committee to recommend that the municipality have the work done for which the Veterans’ Affairs money is allocated. It passed.
Bray said he was happy with the outcome from the meeting.
“There was excellent dialogue. Now we have direction to keep it as it is,” he said. “To me, the most important thing is preserving the integrity of the cenotaph. It has to be cleaned and re-pointed.”
The committee’s recommendations will go to council for consideration, Ryan Jacques, a municipal planner who is attached to the heritage committee, said. From there, council will decide on the scope of the work to be completed, and then staff will send the work out for tender.
