The Ogden Point breakwater in 1963. Credit: GVHA
WATCH: Massive blaze, daring stunt over wall and marriage proposals. Celebrating Ogden Point breakwater as it turns 100 this weekend. Isabelle Raghem reports.
The Greater Victoria Harbour Authority is receiving a $350,000 grant from the federal government as it marks the 100th anniversary of the Ogden Point breakwater this weekend.
The funding is a matching grant from the Department of Canadian Heritage. The Greater Victoria Harbour Authority (GVHA) will use it to design and implement enhancement to the existing structure. It may include work by Esquimalt and Songhees artisans and carvers, interpretive panels, and viewing platforms. The draft designs will be available in the future.
?We are very appreciative of this contribution from Canadian Heritage,? GVHA CEO Ian Robertson said in a release. ?This is a wonderful way to mark both Canada?s 150th, and the breakwater?s 100th, and will allow us to enhance this iconic structure.?
The breakwater was planned after the Panama Canal opened in 1913. The last of more than 10,000 granite blocks, each weighing up to 15 tonnes, was placed on the structure in 1917.
The Ogden Point breakwater was designed to protect piers and allow for safer loading and offloading of goods from international ships without having to go through the waters off Shoal Point.
According to the GVHA, the breakwater has only needed minor repairs in the last 100 years. In 2013, the GVHA put in handrails and in 2015, Songhees and Esquimalt artists finished the painting that are part of the Unity Wall murals, Na?Tsa?Maht.
The breakwater’s 100th anniversary celebration, called Breakfast at the Breakwater, is on Sept. 23 from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Ogden Point breakwater. All members of the public are welcome and there will be activities for kids. There will also be a historic walk and talk on the breakwater with Denton Pendergast from Victoria Harbour History. Visitors can take part in the Instagram walk and photo contest. Coffee, tea, hot chocolate and Empire Donuts will be provided.
Learn more about the event here.
The Ogden Point breakwater. Credit: GVHA
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