Ottawa Mayor calls the Monument to Victims of Communism a 'blight'
Joanne Schnurr, CTV Ottawa Published Tuesday, February 10, 2015 5:40PM EST Last Updated Tuesday, February 10, 2015 6:50PM EST
Ottawa's Mayor calls the planned Memorial to Victims of Communism a "blight" that will overwhelm the beauty of the Supreme Court. Jim Watson is hoping a growing chorus of opposition about the site will convince the federal government to re-think it. The massive monument is planned for a plot of land along Wellington Street between the Supreme Court Building and Library and Archives Canada. The mayor says he's not only frustrated with the scope of the monument but with the way it was handled, thrust upon the city, he says, with no consultation.
Nestled along historic Confederation Boulevard, adjacent to the majestic Supreme Court building, the Memorial to the Victims of Communism would be a bold statement there. It would involve a series of concrete rows, rising 14 metres high in some spots, covered in millions of memory squares to represent souls lost to communism.
What is it supposed to represent, says Anastasia Zhurabel, as she looks at the artists drawing of it, it looks like modern museum to me.
Its very modern looking, I like it, says Marguerite Van Eeden.
Eldon Payette adds, I think this (land) would be better served as a park with a small monument to reflect the message. That looks big and overbearing
Those are the mayor's thoughts, too.
I think it does not fit on the site, says Mayor Jim Watson, I think it takes away from the beauty of the
Supreme Court building. I think it is a blight on that particular site.
Watson says the federal government thrust this decision on residents with no chance to talk about it.
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Ottawa Mayor calls the Monument to Victims of Communism a 'blight'