A campaign to erect a statue of the first Canadian general to lead Canadians in the First World War has received a $50,000 boost.
The call for a statue of General Sir Arthur Currie has been led by the Sir Arthur Currie Memorial Project, which has estimated that $100,000 would be needed to bring the idea to fruition.
Sir Arthur was born just outside of Strathoy, Ontario, in 1875 and went on to have a distinguished military career.
Fundraising
In December 2013, the federal government announced that it would provide a $50,000 grant towards the project. The money has been made available through the Veterans’ Affairs Community War Memorial Project.
Since 2009 the campaign group ‘Sir Arthur Currie Memorial Project’ has worked with Museum Strathoy-Caradoc to publicise and commemorate the general’s personal and military achievements.
Since then, the memorial project, working alongside staff and members of Council of the Municipality of Strathroy-Caradoc, as well as local cadets and community members, had raised $70,000 before the grant from the federal government was announced.
The $70,000 raised will pay for the part of the statue costs not covered by the federal grant, along with a new donor wall inside the front doors of the Strathroy-Caradoc museum/library, potential minor lighting and landscaping considerations, other costs associated with the statue itself, and the expenses associated with the unveiling event next August.
Local hero
Announcing the $50,000 funding, Bev Shipley, MP for Lambton-Kent-Middlesex, said that he was “so happy to see many residents coming together to embrace this local hero”.
John Sargeant, Secretary of the Memorial Project Committee, acknowledged the “real debt of gratitude to the federal government and the Army Cadet League of Canada (Ontario) for their help with this project. We are so pleased we are now able to finish it.”
The statue will be erected in front of Museum Strathroy-Caradoc next to the Cenotaph on Frank St. in Strathroy.
Adrienne Alison has been selected as the sculptor for the project. It is expected that the statue will be unveiled in August 2014 to mark the Centenary of the outbreak of the First World War.
Source: Strathroy-Cardoc press release
Date of press release publication: 19/12/2013
Images courtesy of the Sir Arthur Currie Memorial Project
Posted by: Daniel Barry, Centenary News