Rededication of the Chinese Railway Workers Memorial as it Happened on July 1st!

Click on each image for a closer look!
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As Derek Boles, our TRHA historian, has posted earlier, the rededication of the memorial to the Chinese workers who worked on the building of the CPR was held on Canada Day. In his capacity as a Heritage Toronto Board member, TRHA historian Derek Boles (seen in the photos at the above left and middle by Lance Gleich) placed a wreath and said a few words about the importance of the memorial as part of Toronto's railway heritage. Here is the text of his speech:
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"For several years Heritage Toronto has been proud to participate in this annual rededication and for many of those years I have been privileged to bring you greetings from our hundreds of Heritage Toronto members as well as our board of directors. This memorial is an important part of Toronto’s history.
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The site that we’re now standing on is also significant in railway history. In 1860, the Grand Trunk Railway built a roundhouse on this site. That roundhouse was unusual because it was fully roofed over with a large dome, so the Rogers Centre was not the first domed structure in this location.
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A month ago, another organization I’m involved with, the Toronto Railway Heritage Centre, opened in Roundhouse Park on the other side of the Rogers Centre. The crown jewel of our collection is our Canadian National steam locomotive No. 6213, but that engine didn’t live at our roundhouse before it was retired in 1960. It lived here, in the Spadina roundhouse, that occupied this site from 1927 until 1986.
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The TRHC is in the process of preparing printed material, guided tours and downloadable podcasts that will help people visit and appreciate sites around the city that are significant in Toronto’s railway heritage and we will be highlighting the Chinese Railway Workers Memorial because there are far too few Torontonians that know about this site and its significance."
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The images at the right above and those below are a number of dramatic pictures of the memorial by Shaun Merritt whose work can be found online by clicking here. Then click on Flicker's "Please click here" message. His Toronto Public Art "set" is worth perusing.
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There is an interesting chronological history of the Chinese community in Toronto available at the City of Toronto online archives by clicking here. For an interesting spin on the event and more pictures click here. Our original TRHA News posting about the memorial which describes the inscription on it can be found here.
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Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures by Lance Gleich & Shaun Merritt
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