The restoration of the Victoria Park cenotaph is complete — again.
An embarrassing typo that said the Afghanistan mission went from 2010 to 2014 instead of 2001 to 2014 has been repaired.
The mistake was noticed during a walk through last month.
The structure, which was renovated to commemorate soldiers lost in the Korean conflict and the Afghanistan mission, had the wrong dates. Instead of reading 2001 to 2014 as the dates for Canada’s involvement in Afghanistan, the plaque read 2010 to 2014.
The mistake was fixed on Friday.
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“The original drawings were correct. When the contract drawings were prepared an error was made,” said Tim Wellhauser, facilities manager for the City of London. “There is no cost to the taxpayer.”
The city received $158,242 in federal funding to repair the landmark as part of a Canada 150 grant.
The remaining amount of $316,958 was provided by the City of London out of its public art maintenance fund, with some of the cost subsidized by donations from citizens.
Fourteen southwestern Ontario soldiers were killed during Canada’s Afghanistan mission, including 39-year-old Trooper Mark Wilson who was killed by a roadside bomb.
Last week, Mayor Matt Brown apologized to Wilson’s family for the error.
“We all know the Wilson family, they’re very gracious, but appreciated the call and appreciate that people are making this a significant priority to correct that error,” he said.
The nearly $500,000 restoration project will be officially unveiled during a rededication ceremony planned for Sept. 17.
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