NCC reveals plans for smaller, shorter memorial for victims of communism
New design would be more than one-third smaller
The National Capital Commission has unveiled a smaller, less intrusive design for a proposed monument to victims of communism.
The new design for the National Memorial to Victims of Communism would cover only 37 percent of the approved site between the Supreme Court of Canada and Library and Archives Canada, instead of the previous 60 percent, according to documents made public today at an NCC meeting of its board of directors.
The redesigned monument would also be only eight metres tall, much shorter than the earlier 14.35 metre-tall design, the documents show.
New design proposal also shows that highest point of Victims of Communism memorial reduced by > 6m <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ottnews?src=hash">#ottnews</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cbcott?src=hash">#cbcott</a> <a href="http://t.co/2lwRgCPWMs">pic.twitter.com/2lwRgCPWMs</a>
—@JudyTrinhCBCThe general look of the monument remains largely the same, according to the new design, although with a couple of changes.
The monument's lighting would be softened and would no longer include harsh red lights, the NCC revealed. Also gone would be a statue of an anonymous dead body, to be replaced with a new statue approved by the NCC.
The NCC has made no indication they plan to discuss changing the location of the controversial monument, which has come under fire from a long list of people and organizations, including Mayor Jim Watson, Ottawa Centre MP Paul Dewar, and the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.
Today's meeting is also expected to include a vote to move ahead with plans to decontaminate that site.