Media Releases

Soldiers’ Tower shows battle scars

August 20, 2010

Eminent war memorial undergoes much needed repair

TORONTO, ON – Major restora­tion is about to com­mence this sum­mer on the first of a mul­ti-stage project to repair the Sol­diers’ Tow­er at Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to.  

E.R.A. Archi­tects Inc. will be work­ing in con­junc­tion with Clif­ford Restora­tion Ltd., both among the top build­ing restora­tion firms in Cana­da. The job is being man­aged by the Uni­ver­si­ty of Toronto’s Depart­ment of Facil­i­ties and Ser­vices.  The first phase amounts to $800,000, which has been raised through a fundrais­ing appeal ini­ti­at­ed by the Sol­diers’ Tow­er Com­mit­tee and matched by the Uni­ver­si­ty.  Total cost of the restora­tion over 4 years could reach $1.8 mil­lion and the Uni­ver­si­ty will seek funds for the bal­ance through a spe­cial dri­ve.

The upper mason­ry and pin­na­cles will be the first to yield to the stonemason’s blade. “The pin­na­cles are the most vul­ner­a­ble stone ele­ments on this mas­sive­ly con­struct­ed tow­er. Not only are they exposed on four faces, but they also take the full force of the weath­er, and in par­tic­u­lar win­ter freez­ing” said E.R.A. Archi­tects.  Restora­tion will begin on the north­west pin­na­cle.

Orig­i­nal­ly built in 1924, the Sol­diers’ Tow­er memo­r­i­al is inscribed with the names of the 1,185 men and women lost to the Uni­ver­si­ty in the First and Sec­ond World Wars.  Today, through addi­tions to the arti­facts col­lec­tion in the Memo­r­i­al Room inside the Tow­er, this icon­ic build­ing also affords recog­ni­tion to those Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to peo­ple who served in oth­er con­flicts in which Cana­da and its allies have been engaged. The Tow­er hous­es the only Uni­ver­si­ty-based car­il­lon in Cana­da, and it is the site of the University’s annu­al Ser­vice of Remem­brance.

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For more infor­ma­tion, con­tact:

Kathy Parks
Admin­is­tra­tor, Alum­ni Com­mit­tees
Uni­ver­si­ty Advance­ment, Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to
Tel:  416–978-0544  
E‑mail:  soldiers.tower@utoronto.ca
Pho­tographs are avail­able.