Brockville – The City of Brockville announced today that the structural rehabilitation of the Sabre Jet Memorial support pedestal will begin later this week on Blockhouse Island.
The city says that the project involves sealing cracks in the concrete using epoxy injections and then wrapping the pedestal in layers of carbon fibre. The work is expected to take two days to complete.
The Golden Hawks Sabre Jet was donated to the city on June 23, 1968, in memory of Canadian air crews who lost their lives.
In 2017, the city council had thoughts of removing the plane for good because of the years of deterioration since 1968, but members of the community came together to rescue the plane.
The community’s efforts convinced the city council of the day to approve the first phase of the restoration project, which included a fresh coat of paint for the aging aircraft, was completed by local artist Dave Sheridan in the summer of 2018.
The second phase, to be funded by community donations, includes a memorial plaque of the 90 local airmen who died during the Second World War, as well as enhanced landscaping around the plane, a surface around the jet, a sidewalk, and several memorial benches to be built out of the stone of the former Trinity Anglican Church, which was demolished in 2018.
The second phase has been postponed over the last number of years, first due to flooding on that part of the island and then COVID.
As well before the second phase, the pedestal holding the plane needs to be rehabilitated.
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