Parc des Braves monument restoration could take 18 months
Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
peterblack@qctonline.com
A massive monument conspicuously missing from Parc des Braves on Chemin Sainte-Foy won’t be back in its prominent spot for at least a year.
The towering column topped with a statue of Bellona, the Roman goddess of war, was removed from its base back in December. Erected in 1863, the statue commemorates the Battle of Sainte-Foy in April 1760 in which French forces defeated the British army, getting revenge for the decisive battle on the Plains of Abraham the previous September.
The initial motivation for the monument, and subsequently for the national park on which it stands, was the discovery in the 1850s of the bones of both French and English soldiers, exposed by years of erosion and landslides on the site.
Those remains were collected and placed in a casket that is encased in the monument’s base.
Although details are not available on the condition of the statue and other components of the monument, National Battlefields Commission spokesperson Katherine Laflamme told the QCT, “The ornamental elements – the statue, cannons and plaques – are currently being restored by the Centre de conservation du Québec.”
The other components, notably the sections of the cast iron column, are being stored, pending the “granting of mandates.”
The cost of the restoration has not been determined, Laflamme said. “Analyses are underway. An initial assessment two years ago estimated the work at between $500,000 and $1,000,000, but we do not yet have all the analyses.”
She said the work is expected to be completed and the monument returned “in 12 to 18 months.”
This is not the first time the massive monument, designed by famed architect and engineer Charles Baillairgé, has been dismantled. The widening of Chemin Sainte-Foy in 1970 required the column to be moved back from the road to its current location.