A completion ceremony was held at the Crawford Langstaff Parkette outside of the Wallaceburg and District Museum on Saturday.
It had recently been announced that the Wallaceburg and District Historical Society was moving forward with the Wallaceburg and District Museum’s Educational Institutes Commemoration Project thanks to $14,753 in federal funding through the Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program (CIP 150).
The project was desgined to both preserve the heritage of Wallaceburg area schools and enhance the utility and increase usage of the Crawford Langstaff Parkette.
Michelle Bissonnette, the curator at the Museum, said a vandalized cairn, which was formerly located at the old W.T. Laing Public School property, was fixed up and and placed under a new picnic shelter at the Parkette.
The stones added to the structure commemorate all former schools from the Wallaceburg area.
Bissonnette said a time capsule, that was inside the cairn, had been scheduled to be opened in 2016, but it was discovered that the capsule had been stolen.
“I was looking for a way to salvage what was remaining at that point, at least before it was entirely gone, and that is when I decided to apply or the CIP150 Grant,” Bissonnette said during the ceremony.
“Fortunately, the government recognized the historical and the community value of the project and they gave us the go ahead.”
Bissonnette said their group relocated the corner stones and whatever bricks were salvageable from the school yard, and brought them to the Museum Parkette.
“So they would have a new and hopefully safer home,” she said.
“The idea with the picnic shelter being a bit of a protection to the stones and also it’s the eye pleasing and practical way to display the stones and keep them free to the public for everyone to access and share.”
This project is one of over 730 CIP 150 projects approved in southern Ontario under the program’s two intakes.
Total funding of up to $88.8 million is being delivered across the region by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario .
“The Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program will preserve and improve our community infrastructure, so that Canadians and their families can enjoy moments of culture, sport, recreation and leisure for years to come,” said the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, and Minister responsible for FedDev Ontario.
“I am proud to see this great community benefit from this program.”
Here are some photos from the ribbon cutting ceremony:
– Photo credit: Tami Eagen
– With files from Tami Eagen
