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Southampton City Council Press Releases
Plans for Cenotaph memorial walls to be unveiled
28/01/2010
Plans for a new war memorial to commemorate Southampton’s fallen heroes will be unveiled to the public next week.
Southampton residents are being invited to comment on plans for a new war memorial which is set to be featured alongside the Cenotaph in West Park. The memorial walls will commemorate those who gave their lives serving in World War I, World War II and subsequent conflicts.
An exhibition featuring the proposed Cenotaph Memorial Wall will open at the Civic Centre Foyer on Monday, February 1 and will run until the end of the week.
Councillor John Hannides, Cabinet Member for Leisure Culture and Heritage, said: “For some time now we have been working with the Royal British Legion and the Chamber of Commerce to see how we can commemorate our city’s heroes in a way that is fitting and in keeping with the current setting of the Cenotaph.”
The designs will show how Southampton City Council, in partnership with the Southampton and Fareham Chamber of Commerce and Royal British Legion, hope to commemorate the men and women from the city, who gave their lives serving in the Armed Forces or Merchant Navy since the first World War.
The preferred concept, as chosen by the Royal British Legion’s Southampton Branch and Fareham Chamber of Commerce, comprises of eight glass panels, four panels each to the north and south sides of the Cenotaph. Each panel is approximately 2.85m long x 1.2m high.
The panels would be constructed using 32mm toughened and laminated glass and set into a 300mm high stainless steel or stone plinth, the overall height of the structures would be 1.5m.
The glass would be sandblast etched on one side and would accommodate up to 3,200 names. A faint, monochromatic poppy motif, screen-printed on the inside face of the two laminated pieces, is one design possibility.
Councillor Royston Smith, the Cabinet Member for Economic Development, who served for the Royal Air force, during the Falklands conflict and first Gulf War said: “The proposed plans are a fitting tribute to all of those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice to their country.
“The walls do not in any way detract from the Cenotaph but compliment the existing memorial. The new memorial will be a fitting and tasteful tribute to those who have lost their lives in wars or conflicts. It will be somewhere for us all to reflect on those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.”
People can check whether a relative is included in the Roll of Honour or enquire as to how a relative may be listed for the periods 1914-1918, 1939-1945 or post 1945 by contacting the Public Art Department at the City Council.
Southampton City Council has contributed £50,000 to the project. A campaign to raise the extra £87,000 is underway with the total so far standing at just under £10,000. On Saturday February 6, a street collection will take place to help raise the rest of the funds for the new memorial.
