SLIDESHOW: History unveiled in parkette

Nick Seebruch

CORNWALL, Ontario – The culmination of a year’s worth of work shone through the rain in Cornwall’s Historic Parkette on Friday, June 30.

Ten new historical plaques were be unveiled. The plaques commemorate historical landmarks and events from Cornwall’s history.

The plaques commemorate the Cornwallis Hotel, which was located right behind the Parkette area, the Capitol Theatre, the Great Fire of Cornwall, The History of the First St. and Pitt St. intersection, the history of Pitt St. between Second and Third streets, the Cornwall Orphanage, the Rossmore House, the New York Café (now Koala Place) and Town Hall.

These plaques represent the downtown component of the Cornwall Historic Walking Tour. Last year, Le Village BIA and the Downtown BIA along with the City of Cornwall and the Heart of th City collaborated to install 20 plaques in Le Village and along he waterfront.

The Cornwall Historic Walking Tour weaves a tapestry of local history through illustrations that dot the landscape throughout the city.

Each of the plaques measures 76×101 cm (30×40 inches) and also includes a French translation.

In totall, the plaques represent one part of a $100, 000 investment in Cornwall’s downtown, part of which will also include new benches, garbage recepticles and bike racks.

“We Cornwallites have always lamented the loss of our historic buildings downtown primarily to fire,” said Brenda Campbell, one of the committee members that helped bring the plaques to life.

In the future, there is a plan to install at least two more plaques, one memorializing the Seaway International Bridge and the other the friendships Canadian soldiers from Cornwall made in Holland during World War II.

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