Welland Canal memorial short on funds
The unveiling of a memorial to honour workers who died building the Welland Canal is being bumped from August as more money is required to complete the project.
Current cost estimates for the memorial near St. Catharines Museum are $1.19 million, requiring another $500,000 be raised to complete the project as envisioned.
“We still want to get it unveiled this year,” said Rebecca Cann, St. Catharines’ cultural services supervisor, Tuesday. “It is certainly our goal.” The Welland Canal Fallen Workers Memorial Task Force, formed in 2013 and made up of representatives from Niagara’s four canal cities, three levels of government, several unions and the community, has raised just more than $683,000 so far through pledges, donations and grants.
Cann said the task force is going after two major grants from the Department of Canadian Heritage and Niagara Region’s Waterfront Investment Program.
It’s also going to ask Welland, Thorold and Port Colborne for additional support and is launching a public online fundraising campaign soon.
“We’ve had extraordinary support from corporate and labour community. We’ve had families of fallen workers step up and make personal donations, but we have yet to actively and publicly announce we still need to raise more funds to make the project a success,” Cann said.
“We’re hoping this next ask will see us through to the finish line.”
The Welland Canal Fallen Workers Memorial will honour the 137 men who died building the canal from 1918 to 1932 and dredging the canal from 1932 to 1936.
The memorial will consist of a parkette north of the museum with elements that include large black wall with a quote, a timeline of fatalities on the floor, and gates engraved with the names of the workers who died.
A recent study by third-party HLT Advisory found the plan the province put forward could result in losses of up to 1,400 jobs and tens of millions of dollars to the local economy.
The city and the region want the RFPQ to include stakeholder input and to focus on the same four objectives that were stated in the RFPs when Casino Niagara was opened in 1996 — creating jobs, creating a lasting economic benefit, acting as a catalyst for economic development and providing revenues for the province.
The only criteria in the new process, Caslin said, is revenue for the province.
“As regional chairman, I won’t stand by while the Ontario government ignores 1,400 jobs leaving Niagara,” Caslin said. Diodati agreed. “Our objective is to grab the attention of the decision-makers at the province and Ontario Lottery and Gaming to make sure they address our very, very serious concern,” he said.
“We want to send a unified message that this is a huge concern in our community and I can’t state it enough, they are the biggest employer in the region and losing 1,400 jobs would be like losing an automotive plant.”
Fallsview Casino and Casino Niagara are operated by Falls Management Group but its contract runs out in July 2019.