Parade parkette
Dedication ceremony held at historic site at Fort Townshend
There’s a tonne of history surrounding the granite on which sits the Memorial on Parade Parkette that was officially dedicated Wednesday morning at RNC Provincial Headquarters at Fort Townshend in St. John’s.
And as September wasps buzzed annoyingly about the heads of most speakers in beaming late morning sunlight, they all spoke proudly of that history which is displayed prominently on three large history boards.
Those boards stand behind blocks of granite that display the engraved crests of each of the institutions represented by the parkette — Memorial University, Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University and the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary.
Another granite block sits to the side with an engraving of the caribou — the emblem of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment — and the words “Lest We Forget.”
It’s all set on engraved granite paving stones which form the base of the memorial that is located in front the building that is now the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Memorial Campus. The historic building re-opened two years ago after major renovations and now contains classrooms, a recruiting office, a daycare centre, a wellness centre and a workout area.
Robert Lemessurier, chair of the Memorial on Parade Commemorative Parkette Committee, said they received amazing support and encouragement for the project right from the start.
“The project was to be conducted in three phases. In September 2015, Phase 1 of the project was completed with the mounting of a plaque at the entrance of the building,” Lemessurier said. “That mounting of the plaque coincided with the refurbishment by the provincial government of the building. At that time we had the reopening of the building as the Memorial Campus of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, and you will note the prefix name Memorial has remained to this day.
“Phase 2 was the completion of this parkette being dedicated today. Phase 3 will see the mounting of three additional history boards at Memorial University and the Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University.”
RNC Chief of Police Joe Boland told those gathered that the parkette was a welcome addition to the RNC Memorial Campus and to Fort Townshend.
“Standing here today I feel a tremendous sense of pride, and like the other officers here today, I’m honoured to wear the uniform of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary,” Boland said. “Our roots are long and deep here at Fort Townshend. This place has become our permanent home since 1871 with the removal of the British garrison.
“The RNC Memorial Campus itself has a rich history, having been originally opened 90 years ago as a memorial to the many Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who sacrificed so much during the First World War. Since that time, it has a long history of housing institutions responsible for higher learning in our province.”
The parkette was constructed by the Grand Concourse Authority.
The building was first opened in 1924, and has been a place of higher learning ever since. It was first the new home for the Normal School for training teachers and then, in 1925, the new Memorial University College. Both institutions occupied the facility until 1933, when the west extension was added and the Normal School merged with the college to later become the faculty of education.
In 1949, with Confederation, Memorial College became Memorial University of Newfoundland and moved to its current location.
The building then housed the Fisheries College, which later moved and became the Marine Institute on Ridge Road in St. John’s.
Susan Dyer Knight, chancellor of Memorial University, described the building’s history as a circle of life.
“The extraordinary vision of the people who began Memorial University for us was that they would focus on life going forward, which would formally acknowledge those who could go forward no more because they died on the battlefields of France,” she said. “On the evening of Jan. 22, 1919, the Newfoundland Patriotic Association made a historic decision, and I quote, ‘To take into consideration the advisability of erecting a St. John’s memorial for our sailors and soldiers in the form of an education building which shall raise to a higher level the whole status of education in Newfoundland and materially assist its young people to achieve success in life.’
“It was only two months and 11 days after the end of the First World War that this decision was made to move forward and commit to it, which is really extraordinary. So from the very beginning, Memorial has had a special relationship with the men and women of our armed forces. It is wonderful that the relationship with this place, with this building, continues.”
Justice and Public Safety Minister Andrew Parsons also attended the event and spoke highly of the RNC and RCMP in the province, and how the parkette and the building behind it are important, not only because of its history, but because of what it means for RNC officers now and in the future.
“The reason we are here today really is because of history,” Parsons said. “And as somebody who has studied history in university, I realize the importance of it and I think there is no better way to know where you are going to go in the future than by realizing and by thinking back to where you were, and how you got here.”