Removal of memorial ‘gut-wrenching’

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This article was published 27/08/2018 (2595 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Westwood resident is urging those with memorial benches at Assiniboine Park to make sure the tributes to their loved ones are still standing. 

Earlier this summer, Florence Smart discovered that the memorial to her late husband Jack had been removed by the Assiniboine Park Conservancy without her knowledge. When her daughter and grandkids went to visit the bench near the English Garden, they found it had been replaced and the memorial plaque taken off. 

“I just think of all the other poor souls who might not know because I know how I felt; it was gut-wrenching to be honest,” Smart said. “It was more than a bench… it had meaning for us.”

The park had been a constant in the couple’s life since moving to Winnipeg from England in 1967. Friends took them to visit the English Garden on their first day in the city and the tradition continued until Jack’s final days.

“The very last picture he had taken was in the English Garden,” Smart said. “We could’ve had a bench anywhere, but he wanted it right there.”

Smart made a $750 donation to dedicate the bench in December 2003 — shortly after Jack lost his battle with cancer. At this time, the City of Winnipeg still owned Assiniboine Park and was managing the park bench donation program through Assiniboine Park Enterprise. 

In a letter of receipt, the City thanked Smart for her donation and wrote that the bench would be in place “for years to come.” There was no indication the dedication would expire.

On July 14, 2010, the City transferred ownership of Assiniboine Park and all of its existing assets to the Conservancy. This included the park bench program and roughly 80 memorial benches that were dedicated prior to 2010. A representative from the City wouldn’t say whether efforts were made to let donors know that the bench program was changing hands.

“You’ve got social media, you’ve got TV, you’ve got papers, you should’ve put a notice out about it,” Smart said. “If I had heard, I would’ve understood. I really would.”

When APC took over the park bench program, it received spreadsheets with information about who had purchased benches from the City and three other organizations that had previously managed the program.

The records ranged, some of the records had the person’s name and phone number… in other cases it will just say the inscription on the bench and the donation amount,” said Laura Curtis, acting senior director of marketing and community engagement with APC. 

If a bench needs to be replaced because it’s in poor condition, APC tries to track down the original donor — something that can be “virtually impossible” according to Curtis — and holds on to the memorial plaque until someone claims it. The APC has approximately 30 or 40 unclaimed plaques

Smart says APC offered to put Jack’s plaque on the new bench for $3,500 — an offer she has refused.

“That bench is not my bench, it’s been tarnished. I don’t want anything to do with it,” she said.