Two projects that have been in the works for years will soon be subject to the big reveal in downtown New Westminster.
The City of New Westminster is holding the grand opening of Anvil Centre on Sunday, Sept.14 and is unveiling the Wait for Me, Daddy war memorial on Saturday, Oct. 4.
“I’d like to invite everyone to mark their calendars for these two noteworthy fall events in our city – one of local significance and the other of national significance,” Mayor Wayne Wright said in a press release. “It’s always great to celebrate initiatives of this magnitude with our community and all those involved in bringing these large projects to fruition.”
Anvil Centre includes conference spaces, meeting rooms, a 364-seat theatre, a new media gallery, the city’s museum and several multi-purpose rooms for cultural programming.The grand opening celebration will include a variety of interactive activities, including performances, facility tours and more.
The unveiling of the Wait For Me, Daddy war memorial – a bronze war memorial sculpture based on the iconic war photo by Vancouver Province newspaper photographer Claude P. Dettloff – will take place on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 11 a.m. at Hyack Square. Canada Post will unveil a national commemorative stamp featuring the Wait for Me, Daddy photo and will launch the first day of sales of the stamp inside Anvil Centre, where a number of activities related to the project will be taking place.
“We are renovating Hyack Square to a certain extent,” said Coun. Lorrie Williams. “It’s going to be an exciting place on Oct. 4.”
According to Williams, the B.C. Regiment is planning a march to the memorial with the Westies of the Royal Westminster Regiment. An informal evening event is also being considered, at which time the memorial statue would be lit.
“There are things right now we cannot share,” she said. “We think we have some lovely surprises coming up.”
