Three-year delay requires city hall to boost budget to restore downtown monument

City hall’s restoration of the People and the City monument has been stalled since early 2022, and a plan to resume the project next spring requires more money.

Located in the centre median of Wellington Street between Queens and Dufferin Avenues, the 33-year-old monument has been partially covered by plywood during the delay repairing its crumbling limestone base and copper artwork.

Local historian Joe O’Neil explained, “Acid rain is still around, we have salt on the roads, plus we have vibration from all the trucks going by, so those three things have basically eaten away and destroyed the limestone.”

A report to the Corporate Services Committee explains that the price tag of the restoration has risen during the delay, "The vendor for the monument had started the activation of closing the street, and renting equipment, but was then required to stop work on the project. The estimated costs of the interruption amount to $77,000"

In 2021, a contract to restore the monument was signed for $474,000, sourced from the city's Public Art/Monument Renewal Reserve Fund.

An emailed statement to CTV News explains that the restoration began in April 2022, but design changes by the original artists forced the work to be paused.

People and the City monument on Wellington Street. (Daryl Newcombe/CTV News London)

It was then too late in the year to avoid winter weather.

In 2023 and 2024 the restoration couldn't resume because of road construction to build the bus rapid transit system along Wellington Street.

The restoration is now scheduled for Spring 2025.

Unveiled in 1991, the People and the City is designed to tell the story of London's origins – from Indigenous peoples and settlers to more current leaders in local business, politics, and art.

“We do need these monuments because we have amazing history here in the city that people aren't aware of, but when they put them up people don't seem to think long-term,” explained O’Neil.

The restoration will utilize granite instead of Indiana limestone because it’s a more durable stone.