Orillia should pitch in to make HRC monument accessible
Feb 12, 2020
Former residents of the Huronia Regional Centre and their families are seeking city support for a project that pays tribute to those who died at the site, as well as survivors.
“We are hopeful the city of Orillia will finally recognize that people living at HRC created jobs and revenue for the city for many decades, and now help contribute to the memorial,”
said Debbie Vernon, a spokesperson for Remember Every Name.
A sculpture unveiled last August at the HRC cemetery was designed in collaboration with survivors, and created by metal sculptor Hilary Clark Cole in conjunction with Signature Memorials.
Funding for the piece came from a settlement that followed the Huronia Regional Centre class action, launched in response to the abuse many residents experienced there.
“All the funds allocated were used to create the monument, but there is more work needed to be done to make this complete,”
Vernon added.
Survivors want included a statement commemorating the monument, along with a walkway leading from the cemetery and around the monument to ensure it is accessible.
Vernon said she was approached by a couple of councillors during a dedication ceremony for the monument last August, adding they expressed interest in helping.
Coun. David Campbell, who attended the ceremony with Coun. Tim Lauer, told Simcoe.com he hoped money could be found in the city’s sidewalks program to create an accessible path.
“One of the things we noticed were some of the people coming up in wheelchairs and having great difficulty getting to it,”
Campbell said.
Council referred the group’s letter to council committee and requested a report from the parks, recreation and culture department.
The group is also suggesting installing two black granite benches to match the monument, with a statement of commemoration engraved on the back rests.
One bench would be engraved with words and the other with braille.
According to Vernon, the majority of those buried at the cemetery on Memorial Avenue were marked with a number but not a name, and most of the grave markers were later removed.
Today, individuals without grave markers, and those with numbered graves, are memorialized on a plaque and on a row of monuments.
Feb 12, 2020 by Frank Matys, Orillia Today
https://www.simcoe.com/news-story/9849444-orillia-should-pitch-in-to-make-hrc-monument-accessible-campbell/