canadian fallen firefighters foundation announces finalists for canadian firefighters memorial

Attention News Editors

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date:   April 9, 2010

Ottawa, Ontario-- The Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation (CFFF) is pleased to announce the six finalist teams of a two-stage competition for a national monument to honour Canadian firefighters. This monument will be dedicated to all firefighters and will commemorate the over 1,000 Canadian firefighters who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

The Canadian Firefighters Memorial is expected to be completed by March, 2012 and will be located on a site owned by the National Capital Commission at LeBreton Flats near the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, Ontario. The monument is being made possible thanks to the fund raising efforts of the Foundation, provision of a site by the National Capital Commission and a grant from Canadian Heritage, the announcement for which was made in September 2009 by Minister James Moore.

“We are extremely pleased on the quality of artists and design firms who applied and were chosen for the competition,” says Captain Robert Kirkpatrick, President of the Foundation who added, “the briefing day allowed us to meet all the teams. It confirmed our confidence in the choices that were made.”

In the first stage of the national competition, six artists were selected as finalists and each was then invited to select a design team partner (architect and/or landscape architect). The Finalist Teams are now developing design concepts.

The teams comprise:

• Ken Lum (Vancouver)/architectsAlliance (Toronto)

• Allan Harding Mackay (Toronto)/ Phillips Farvaag & Smallenberg (Vancouver)

• Barbara Steinman (Montreal)/ Fleisher Ridout Partnership (Toronto)

• Myfanwy Macleod (Vancouver)/ Ferris & Associates (Toronto)

• Douglas Coupland (Vancouver)/ PLANT Architect Inc. (Toronto)

• Rose Marie E. Goulet (Montreal)/VLAN Paysages and Peter Soland Architect (Montreal)

In the second stage, the teams will present their concepts to the Jury in August 2010. The art and design professionals on the Jury include: Bryan Newson (Vancouver), Jane Perdue (Toronto), Dr. Francyne Lord (Montreal), Peter Fletcher Smith (Toronto) and Lorraine Pierce Hull (Ottawa) who join two representatives of the CFFF. The winning design will be unveiled at the Canadian Firefighters Annual Memorial Ceremony on September 12, 2010 in Ottawa.

Competition Management
Karen Mills of Public Art Management is managing the competition and has worked with the CFFF for more than 5 years.

“We are proud to see that Canada’s leading artists and design firms are finalists. This will make the Jury selection very interesting and perhaps quite difficult - a good place to be” said Mrs. Mills. “Our briefing and site visit day was a great success with the teams able to speak with firefighters to enlarge their understanding of what these courageous people do every working day. It was a memorable day.”

The Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation is a registered charitable organization dedicated to honouring the memory of Canada’s fallen firefighters. It comprises members of the Canadian Fire Service and other interested citizens who volunteer their time.

“We are finally on our way to building a truly significant memorial to Canada’s fallen firefighters and to all our members in the many fire services across the country. This will be a place of reflection and honour for all Canadians to visit when in the nation’s capital.” Captain Kirkpatrick explained.

Media Contacts:

More information:

Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation
Treasurer Doug Lock
613-786-3024 (office)
613-276-5546 (cell) treasurer@cfff.ca

En francais: Vice Pres. Mike McKenna  (en francais) QUEBEC@CFFF.CA
819-820-5357

Competition Questions :

Karen Mills
416-917-7664 cffmemorial@gmail.com