Central Memorial Park

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Central Memorial Park
Centralmemorialparklibrary calgary.png
Memorial Park Library
Central Memorial Park
Location Beltline, Flag placeholder.svg  Calgary
Coordinates 51°02′28″N114°04′15″W / 51.04113°N 114.07081°W / 51.04113; -114.07081
Area4.68 acres (0.0189 km2)
Created1889 (1889)
Operated byCity of Calgary
Official nameCentral Memorial Park and Library National Historic Site
Designated2018-01-12 (2018-01-12)

Central Memorial Park is a park located in central Calgary's Beltline district. Sometimes referred to as Central Park or as Memorial Park, the area is home to the Memorial Park Library, [1] an equestrian statue of Russell Lambert Boyle, and a cenotaph. The former Colonel Belcher Veterans Hospital was located across 4th street SW to the west, now the site of the Sheldon M. Chumir Centre. The Memorial Park Library and the surrounding park were named a National historic site in 2018 [2]

Contents

History

Central Memorial Park in Calgary with the Colonel Belcher Hospital in the background Colonel Belcher.JPG
Central Memorial Park in Calgary with the Colonel Belcher Hospital in the background

The park occupies one entire city block between 12th and 13th Avenues SW, bounded by 2nd and 4th Streets. Totalling 4.68 acres (18,900 m2), the park was designed in 1889 and landscaped in Victorian style. [3]

The park went through a major revitalization in 2008–2009 at a cost of $11.5 million, and the renovated park was re-opened in May 2010. [4]

Standing on the steps of Sacred Heart Church, Hébert spotted Eneas McCormick, then in his early twenties, and thought he would make a good model for the statue. The bronze statue has him sitting astride what was rancher Pat Burns's own pony. The statue is one and a half times life size, and has been described as one of the four finest equestrian statues in the world.

Monuments

Boer War monument in Central Memorial Park. Central Memorial Park, Calgary - R.L. Boyle.png
Boer War monument in Central Memorial Park.

The sculptor was Louis Philippe Hébert, who also did the Indian family grouping in front of the Legislature in Quebec City. The death of an English soldier in Calgary led to the creation of the South African War Memorial. Quebec sculptor, Louis Phillipe Hébert, was visiting his cousins, the Miquelon family in Calgary, at the turn of the century when they came upon the body of a soldier in a ditch in the Killarney area. It seems he had died from lead poisoning and no one had known about his illness. Members of the Calgary-based Lord Strathcona Horse Regiment who had fought in the South African Boer War (1899 - 1902) took up a collection and efforts were made to trace his family in England. It was decided that the men who fought in the war should be commemorated and Hébert said, "I'll put up a statue taller than your trees." Further funds were raised and Hébert was commissioned to create a statue in 1911. It was unveiled in 1914.

Standing on the steps of Sacred Heart Church, Hébert spotted Eneas McCormick, then in his early twenties, and thought he would make a good model for the statue. The bronze statue has him sitting astride what was rancher Pat Burns's own pony. The statue is one and a half times life size, and has been described as one of the four finest equestrian statues in the world. (R. L. Boyle was known for his contributions at Ypres, several years after the Second Boer War. Russell Lambert Boyle, was born on October 29, 1880. Although Colonel Boyle served in South Africa as a Sergeant, he is better known for his courageous exploits during the Second Battle of Ypres, where he led the 10th Battalion, CEF in its first action at Kitchener's Wood. He died of wounds on April 25, 1915.)

The statue of R.L. Boyle is unusual in that his name is not inscribed on the monument. Rather than memorializing him personally, the statue is intended as a tribute to all Albertans who fought in the Second Boer War, and the dates 1899-1902 are inscribed on the pedestal.[ citation needed ]

The Cenotaph was formally dedicated and unveiled by the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, His Honour Dr. W. G. Egbert, on November 11, 1928. The Calgary Herald estimated the crowd at this event to be 10,000 with at least 75 wreaths laid. In addition, a pair of granite benches accompanied the Cenotaph. The bench on the south side was inscribed "May we live as nobly as they died" while the north bench's inscription was: "Pass not in sorrow, but with pride." [5]

There is also a statue outside the Memorial Park branch of the Calgary Public Library at the park's eastern end of a First World War era soldier, erected by the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire after the war. [6]

Activities

An annual, civic, wreath laying commemorating Remembrance Day occurs each November 11 with The Calgary Highlanders conducting a Unit parade and ceremony of remembrance at which many organizations and civilians pay their respects.

ANZAC Day is commemorated annually each April at the cenotaph. [ citation needed ]

Since January 2017, Calgary's international literary festival Wordfest has operated from the library's second floor, and the organization runs author events from there and other locations.

SHAW PRIDE celebrates Pride with commissioned artists from 2SLGBTQ+, BIPOC, and ally communities. The murals are unveiled every August (since 2020) and sit in separate corners of Central Memorial Park, connected by a rainbow sidewalk.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the park became a gathering place for protests against vaccine mandates and other public health measures. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cenotaph</span> Monument to a person whose remains are elsewhere

A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenotaphs honour individuals, many noted cenotaphs are instead dedicated to the memories of groups of individuals, such as the lost soldiers of a country or of an empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Cenotaph, Hong Kong</span> Historic site in Statue Square

The Cenotaph is a war memorial constructed in 1923 and located between Statue Square and the City Hall in Central, Hong Kong, that commemorates the dead in the two world wars who served in Hong Kong in the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force. Built in stone, it is an almost exact replica of the Cenotaph on Whitehall in London, UK. It is listed as a monument under the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sydney Cenotaph</span> War memorial in Martin Place, Sydney

The Sydney Cenotaph is a heritage-listed monument located in Martin Place, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Bertram Mackennal and built from 1927 to 1929 by Dorman Long & Co. It is also known as Martin Place Memorial and The Cenotaph. It is one of the oldest World War I monuments in central Sydney. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 11 November 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian war memorials</span>

Canadian war memorials are buildings, monuments, and statues that commemorate the armed actions in the territory encompassing modern Canada, the role of the Canadian military in conflicts and peacekeeping operations, and Canadians who died or were injured in a war. Much of this military history of Canada is commemorated today with memorials across the country and around the world. Canadian memorials commemorate the sacrifices made as early as the Seven Years' War to the modern day War on Terror. As Newfoundland was a British Dominion until joining Confederation in 1949, there are several monuments in Newfoundland and Labrador and abroad which were dedicated to Newfoundland servicemen and women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boer War Memorial (Montreal)</span> War memorial in Canada

The Boer War Memorial is a monument to the heroes of the Boer War. It is located at Dorchester Square in downtown Montreal, in Quebec, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manchester Cenotaph</span> World War I memorial

Manchester Cenotaph is a war memorial in St Peter's Square, Manchester, England. Manchester was late in commissioning a First World War memorial compared with most British towns and cities; the city council did not convene a war memorial committee until 1922. The committee quickly achieved its target of raising £10,000 but finding a suitable location for the monument proved controversial. The preferred site in Albert Square would have required the removal and relocation of other statues and monuments, and was opposed by the city's artistic bodies. The next choice was Piccadilly Gardens, an area already identified for a possible art gallery and library; but in the interests of speedier delivery, the memorial committee settled on St Peter's Square. The area within the square had been had been purchased by the City Council in 1906, having been the site of the former St Peter's Church; whose sealed burial crypts remained with burials untouched and marked above ground by a memorial stone cross. Negotiations to remove these stalled so the construction of the cenotaph proceeded with the cross and burials in situ.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Cenotaph</span> War memorial in Whitehall, London

The Cenotaph is a war memorial on Whitehall in London, England. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, it was unveiled in 1920 as the United Kingdom's national memorial to the dead of Britain and the British Empire of the First World War, was rededicated in 1946 to include those of the Second World War, and has since come to represent the Commonwealth casualties from those and subsequent conflicts. The word cenotaph is derived from Greek, meaning 'empty tomb'. Most of the dead were buried close to where they fell; thus, the Cenotaph symbolises their absence and is a focal point for public mourning. The original temporary Cenotaph was erected in 1919 for a parade celebrating the end of the First World War, at which more than 15,000 servicemen, including French and American soldiers, saluted the monument. More than a million people visited the site within a week of the parade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southampton Cenotaph</span> War memorial in Southampton, England

Southampton Cenotaph is a First World War memorial designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and located in Watts Park in the southern English city of Southampton. The memorial was the first of dozens by Lutyens to be built in permanent form and it influenced his later designs, including the Cenotaph in London. It is a tapering, multi-tiered pylon which culminates in a series of diminishing layers before terminating in a sarcophagus which features a recumbent figure of a soldier. In front is an altar-like Stone of Remembrance. The cenotaph contains multiple sculptural details including a prominent cross, the town's coat of arms, and two lions. The names of the dead are inscribed on three sides. Although similar in outline, later cenotaphs by Lutyens were much more austere and featured almost no sculpture. The design uses abstract, ecumenical features and lifts the recumbent soldier high above eye level, anonymising him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rochdale Cenotaph</span> War memorial in Rochdale, Greater Manchester

Rochdale Cenotaph is a First World War memorial on the Esplanade in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, in the north west of England. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, it is one of seven memorials in England based on his Cenotaph in London and one of his more ambitious designs. The memorial was unveiled in 1922 and consists of a raised platform bearing Lutyens' characteristic Stone of Remembrance next to a 10-metre (33 ft) pylon topped by an effigy of a recumbent soldier. A set of painted stone flags surrounds the pylon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macclesfield Cenotaph</span> World War I memorial in Macclesfield, England

Macclesfield Cenotaph is a World War I memorial in Park Green, Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. It was unveiled in 1921, and consists of a stone pillar and pedestal and three bronze statues. One statue is that of a mourning female, and the others comprise Britannia laying a wreath over a soldier who had died from gassing, an unusual subject for a war memorial at the time. The memorial is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guards Memorial</span> War memorial in London, England

The Guards Memorial, also known as the Guards Division War Memorial, is an outdoor war memorial located on the west side of Horse Guards Road, opposite Horse Guards Parade in London, United Kingdom. It commemorates the war dead from the Guards Division and related units during the First World War, and of the Household Division in the Second World War and other conflicts since 1918.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boer War Memorial, Gatton</span> War memorial in Queensland, Australia

Boer War Memorial is a heritage-listed war memorial at Crescent Street, Gatton, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by William Hodgen and produced by Toowoomba mason William Bruce. It was built in 1908, and was unveiled on 3 August by Governor of Queensland, Lord Chelmsford. The memorial honours four local men who died in or as a result of the war, and is one of only three known Boer War memorials in Queensland. It is also known as the Fallen Soldiers Memorial and the South African War Memorial.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boer War Memorial, Allora</span> Historic site in Queensland, Australia

The Boer War Memorial is a heritage-listed memorial at Warwick Street, Allora, Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1904 to 1940s. It is also known as Queen's Park and War Memorial Park. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cavalry of the Empire Memorial</span> War memorial in Hyde Park, London

The Cavalry of the Empire Memorial, also known as the Cavalry Memorial, is a war memorial in Hyde Park, London. It commemorates the service of cavalry regiments in the First and Second World Wars. It became a Grade II listed building in 1987, and was promoted to Grade II* in November 2014.

Russel Lambert Boyle was a Canadian rancher and soldier. Boyle served in the Second Boer War and commanded the 10th Battalion, CEF from its time at Valcartier at the beginning of the First World War, to his death. Boyle led the 10th Battalion in their first battle on 22 April 1915, the attack on Kitcheners' Wood. He was hit by five machine gun bullets and died at No. 3 Casualty Clearing Station. He is buried in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's Poperinghe Old Military Cemetery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South African War Memorial, Richmond Cemetery</span> First World War memorial in London, England

The South African War Memorial is a First World War memorial in Richmond Cemetery in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Designed by architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, the memorial is in the form of a cenotaph, similar to that on Whitehall, also by Lutyens. It was commissioned by the South African Hospital and Comforts Fund Committee to commemorate the 39 South African soldiers who died of their wounds at a military hospital in Richmond Park during the First World War. The memorial was unveiled by General Jan Smuts in 1921 and was the focus of pilgrimages from South Africa through the 1920s and 1930s, after which it was largely forgotten until the 1980s when the Commonwealth War Graves Commission took responsibility for its maintenance. It has been a grade II listed building since 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mells War Memorial</span> War memorial in Mells, Somerset, England

Mells War Memorial is a First World War memorial by Sir Edwin Lutyens in the village of Mells in the Mendip Hills of Somerset, south-western England. Unveiled in 1921, the memorial is one of multiple buildings and structures Lutyens designed in Mells. His friendship with two prominent families in the area, the Horners and the Asquiths, led to a series of commissions; among his other works in the village are memorials to two sons—one from each family—killed in the war. Lutyens toured the village with local dignitaries in search of a suitable site for the war memorial, after which he was prompted to remark "all their young men were killed".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Artillery Boer War Memorial</span>

The Royal Artillery Boer War Memorial is located on the south side of The Mall in Central London, close to the junction with Horse Guards Road at the northeast corner of St James's Park. Unveiled in 1910, it marks the deaths of the 1,083 soldiers of the Royal Artillery who died in the Second Boer War from 1899 to 1902 It has been a listed building since 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Streatham War Memorial</span> Public sculpture by Albert Toft

Streatham War Memorial is a war memorial to the war dead of the London district of Streatham in the two World Wars. It was unveiled in 1922, and is sited near the northwest corner of Streatham Common.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gore Park (Hamilton, Ontario)</span>

Gore Park is a town square or urban park located in downtown Hamilton, Ontario.

References

  1. Memorial Park Library Archived July 6, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Memorial Park Library, Central Memorial Park declared national historic site". Calgary Herald. 2018-01-19. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  3. "Central Memorial Park - Calgary, Alberta" . Retrieved 2010-08-23.
  4. CBC (2010-05-14). "Central Memorial Park reopens after $11M reno". CBC News. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
  5. "Thousands Expected To Attend Unveiling Of Big War Memorial". Calgary Herald . 1928-11-10. p. 25. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
  6. "Central Memorial Park".
  7. Gervais, Brittany (2022-02-05). "Protests against COVID-19 health measures continue in Alberta cities". Calgary Herald . Retrieved 2022-02-13.