Study proposed on memorial-update feasibility in Centennial Park

City council is being asked to OK a study looking into whether pouring concrete in Centennial Park, and making other improvements to the park’s missing worker memorial, can happen without disturbing capped contaminated soil.

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“Pending council’s approval, the city is preparing to engage a consultant to examine the current site conditions and get a better understanding of what’s feasible to move forward in the park,” said facilities manager Tom Burnard.

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How workable it is to include things such as more seating, electrical for sound, a water fountain, a pergola and better connection in the park to the sculpture — depicting a family left behind after a loved one’s death, and the traditional site for annual day of mourning ceremonies — is the question, given the park was sealed off for years to bury and cap toxins, including lead and asbestos, found in the soil, said Sarnia and District Labor Council president Nick Dochstader.

“Just with the sensitivity around digging in that area, I think everyone is pretty gun-shy I would say,” he said, but added “there’s definitely an appetite to get this done.”

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The memorial was created in the late-1990s and its initial installation in the park featured many of the amenities being sought, like the pergola, before it was dismantled following the 2014 discovery of contaminated soilofficials said.

A $13.5-million park remediation project that included capping the soil beneath geotextile material and covering that with a half-meter of clean sand and top soil finished around 2017.

The memorial was then reinstalled in a different location, but without the amenities that were part of the original design, officials have said.

Aside from the sculpture, there isn’t much there, Dochstader said.

“What we kind of want to do is make it more inviting … so people know that it’s there,” he said, noting making more connecting pathways could help.

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The ground can also be very wet in the spring, he said, when the day of mourning is held.

At the last minute come change happened earlier this year amid ground-condition concerns when the annual April 28 event was expected to make it’s return to Centennial Park. It was instead held at Sarnia’s East Street fire hall.

Victims of Chemical Valley, the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers, Sarnia-Lambton Building Trades, Workers Health and Safety Center and the labor council have been in talks with the city about potential ways to address those issues since the spring, Dochstader said.

Council in April endorsed restoring the memorial and called for a staff report examining options.

Victims of Chemical Valley, a group of mostly women widowed by occupational disease — particularly historical asbestos exposure in Sarnia plants — has had previous discussions with the city, officials have said.

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“We’ve always kind of talked about it, but I’ll be honest, we haven’t really got down to brass tacks and making some movements on it until this year,” Dochstader said about the labor council’s involvement

In conversations, there’s been staff and council support for fixing the installation, he said.

“We recognize things maybe didn’t happen the way they should have in the past, but there is an appetite to make it right,” he said. “So, we can’t be upset about that.”

When any changes could happen is unclear, he said.

“I would be surprised if we were able to hold our ceremony down there for next year,” he said.

Details about the potential study’s estimated cost weren’t available from the city. City council’s next regular meeting is Oct. 16.

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