Lara KmechConstruction on the University of Alberta’s Presidents’ Circle monument remains blocking a large section of walkway on campus, but construction is back in progress.
A year in the making, construction on the project was halted over the chilly winter months. University officials say the Presidents’ Circle located on the northwest side of campus will finally be open to the public in September.
The project will celebrate the Alumni Association’s centenary and will be highlighted by a monument deemed The Visionaries, a statue of Alberta’s first premier, Alexander Rutherford, and the U of A’s first president, Henry Marshall Tory. The statue will be surrounded by sitting areas and plaques commemorating the U of A’s 12 past presidents. With all the elements coming together by September, the entire project will be unveiled at next fall’s Alumni Week.
“The (Alumni Association) wanted to do something that would be a permanent reflection of the bond between alumni and the university,” Interim Associate Vice-President (Alumni Relations) Robert Moyles said. “To do something which would reinforce history, traditions, and feelings of pride amongst students, faculty and staff.”
U of A Alumna Barbara Paterson has been commissioned to create The Visionaries, which is slated for completion in late summer. After graduating from the U of A 1957 with a Fine Arts Diploma, she returned to full-time studies in 1998 to completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts. After being granted a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2000, Paterson has gone on to create many notable works, including the Famous Five statues on Parliament Hill and a noted bronze of Emily Carr in Victoria, British Columbia. The Visionaries will be portrayed in larger-than-life-sized bronze casts in Peterson’s signature realistic figures.
The Presidents’ Circle concept won from a selection of commemorative project ideas and was approved by the Alumni Assocations’ Council last year. The total budget for the project was set at $500,000 and will be funded primarily through affinity partnerships between the Alumni Association and corporate partners.
Though construction has recently restarted on the site, the Presidents’ Circle will remain closed until its unveiling in September. Once the site is complete, Alumni Association representative Mary Reeleder said she hopes it will be an “ideal gathering place on campus,” but also a part of the University of Alberta Museum’s Art Collection and be included in tours of campus.
With the Presidents’ Circle project, the Alumni Association has provided the university with a meeting place, as well as a permanent connection to the university’s past and founding dictums, Reeleder said.
“The early grads were inspired by Tory and Rutherford to ‘do great things,’” Reeleder said. “The Presidents’ Circle will be a reminder of the University of Alberta’s historic roots in our province.”
