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Town looks to add names to Alexandra Park cenotaph

July 16, 2026   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS

Orangeville will modify its Alexandra Park cenotaph to include the names of soldiers missing from the monument.

Council approved $35,000 to be paid from its general capital reserve fund for the project, which was added to the 2026-2035 capital program, a 10-year budget planning document. The fund has the money because of savings from past capital projects.

The goal is to have the new keystone in place for Remembrance Day 2026, but that depends on acquiring it in sufficient time to complete the work.

According to a report by David Smith, the town’s CAO, and tabled during council’s July 13 meeting, a local military historian has been researching military veterans who died for Canada. That research found about 15 names that should be on the cenotaph.

An example would be someone who is recognized at the War Memorial at Orangeville District Secondary School but is not on the cenotaph.

“There are a variety of reasons why these oversights may have occurred and this is not unusual,” according to the report.

Additions to cenotaphs are not uncommon for previous service.

This monumental body of research has been vetted by a local historian expert at the Orangeville Public Library. The expert has peer-reviewed the research and concurs with the names being added.

The Royal Canadian Legion and the town’s heritage committee have been consulted on the project.

Due to the extended time required to acquire a keystone, some of this work is occurring concurrently.

A variety of options were considered as part of an on-site meeting with memorial and cenotaph experts.

It was suggested that the cenotaph be wrapped and reinstalled with bronze. Another option was to remove and scrape the existing stone before reengraving and reinstalling it.

Staff considered adding the names to the existing names or adding an additional cenotaph structure to bear them.

“It was felt that respecting the history of the cenotaph and keeping the original look was the desired outcome,” Smith said in his report.

Not removing the existing keystone to be scraped and reengraved would reduce project cost for storage and eliminate the risk of damage.

And there is not enough existing space to engrave new names respectfully.

“The proposed approach will see very little disruption to the cenotaph, a few hours, and very little change to the look,” he wrote to council. “Staff are also researching the original cenotaph to determine if there is opportunity to reclaim some of what has been lost.”

It is believed that a short quote was scraped off at some point in time to accommodate additional names.

“If possible, space will be made available for future sacrifices made by community members,” he said.

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