Move "People and the City"

 

It was meant as a tribute to the people of London, Ontario, from the original First Nations to the community leaders of later times. Created by artists Stuart Reid and Doreen Balabanoff, it was installed downtown on August 5, 1991. 

And the people of London have been deriding their "tribute" ever since.

Not that the monument itself isn't interesting. Each section features a different group of people eg. Early Settlement; Politics; Sports & Entertainment; etc. Individuals pictured inside those panels include Amelia Harris, John P. Robarts, and George "Mooney" Gibson, among others. 

The problem is where it was placed. How are people supposed to study the pictures without risking their lives by standing in the middle of Wellington Street? Was a monument with such detail really meant to be placed on a traffic median? Of course not. The artists intended viewers to walk around it and look closely at the figures. The explanatory plaque is across the street on the sidewalk, but no one standing near the plaque can see the artwork it's describing. 

It also obstructs visibility at the intersection. When I'm facing north, waiting to make a left turn onto Queens Avenue, I always wonder if a southbound car is just behind the monument, where I can't see it. If so, will the driver be able to stop in time or slam into me? How much easier it would be if this piece of public art were somewhere else.

And now the base is crumbling because the salt spread on the city streets in winter is destroying the limestone. But what they should really be doing is moving the monument to a new location. How about next to City Hall somewhere? Or even better, in Victoria Park or Harris Park, where visitors could walk around it? After all, if the "people" have their monument, they should at least be able to see it. 

Update, June 2022: At last, the city is repairing the base. 

Update, June 2026: But it's looked like this for about eight months now ...  

Apparently, like every other project, there were problems. The weather was bad, they couldn't find replacement stone, there was graffiti to clean off, etc. According to this, the final cost of the restoration will be $523,865.25. Pity the city didn't think of moving it somewhere else while they were fixing it. Because a monument no one can see isn't worth the repair bill.