A memorial’s escalating cost
Since Tribute to Liberty was formed in 2008 to advocate and raise money for a memorial to victims of communism, the project’s price tag has nearly quadrupled and the contribution from taxpayers has risen sharply.
Originally estimated at $1.5 million — with the full cost borne by private donors — the memorial’s price tag has ballooned to $5.5 million, with $3 million of that coming from the federal government. Then there’s the value of its choice site on Wellington Street, which is worth between $16 million and $30 million, according to real estate brokers and developers consulted by architect Barry Padolsky, a leading project opponent.
Even the $5.5-million figure is in flux. In December, Heritage Minister Shelley Glover called the cost approximate. “As we move forward, we’ll have a more final number,” she said.
Toronto architect Shirley Blumberg, a member of the design competition jury who also opposes the chosen site, has said there’s “no way” the memorial can be built for $5.5 million. Because of the technologies incorporated into the memorial, she estimated the actual cost will be at least two to three times the current estimate.
In a recent interview, Voytek Gorczynski, head of ABSTRAKT Studio Architecture, which won the design competition for the memorial, said his team was “in the process of putting together the cost estimate. We’re trying to make it as economically as possible. And we’re slowly getting to our number.”
Tribute to Liberty first disclosed it had applied for funding from the Department of Canadian Heritage in its Fall 2011 newsletter. By that point, it had been actively fundraising for two years, but had just $9,574 in assets, according to Revenue Canada filings.
In August 2013, the federal government announced $1.5 million in funding for the memorial project. Tribute to Liberty then had $295,163 in total assets, though Ludwik Klimkowski, who became chair of the charity in October 2012, told the Citizen at the time he’d raised about $1 million since taking over as chair.
When the federal government launched the design competition for the memorial on April 1, 2014, its Request for Qualifications document said the “total, all-inclusive budget” for the project, including taxes, was $1.95 million. But two weeks later, the Department of Canadian Heritage issued an amendment raising that to $3.15 million. It’s now $5.5 million and counting.
Last August, the Citizen reported that the federal contribution had risen to $3 million. The government made no announcement of the increase, however. It only came to light when Klimkowski told the Citizen that the government had “restructured” its contribution. To that point, the charity had raised $2 million, Klimkowski said at the time.
But Revenue Canada records show total assets of just $573,285 as of July 31, 2014. Tribute to Liberty’s filings with the CRA show it had revenues of $884,978 between early 2010, when it obtained charitable status, and the fiscal year ending last July 31. During the same period, it declared expenses of $318,477.
Asked for a fundraising update last month, Klimkowski said the charity had raised $1.5 million “including outstanding pledges.” He couldn’t say what the fundraising goal now is. “The goal is changing, so I cannot define it.”
The charity’s struggles to raise money, coupled with the escalating cost of the memorial, raise questions about what will happen if there’s a funding shortfall. In December, Glover suggested the government would not contribute more than $3 million. The two departments providing the funding — Canadian Heritage and Citizenship and Immigration — reiterated that in emails late last month.
Construction of the memorial is slated to begin this year, with official inauguration of the main monument elements by fall.