London cenotaph unveiled and rededicated

London’s 83-year-old cenotaph is back in top shape after months of renovations were officially unveiled yesterday.

The Royal Canadian Legion held a rededication ceremony at the site at the southwest corner of Victoria Park.

Crews not only did internal structural repairs on the monument, they also updated the engravings on its exterior to include the dates for the conflict in Afghanistan and UN peacekeeping missions.

When the etchings were originally done, there was a mistake with the dates of the conflict in Afghanistan. The design error led crews to engrave dates of 2010 to 2014 instead of 2001 to 2014.

The mistake was noticed on a walk-through in August and was fixed earlier this month. The design team is footing the bill.

“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 renovations cost a total of $475,000.

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.

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 monument to those who fought and died in conflicts around the world was originally built in 1934.