[PHOTO] Air India Flight 182 Memorial Sundial, Humber Bay Park East

[rfmcdonald]

The 1986 bombing that destroyed Air India Flight 182 is memorialized in Toronto's Humber Bay Park East. R. Boouwmester & Associates, the company charged with the design of this memorial, has a page explaining the thinking behind this project.

R. Bouwmeester & Associates was commissioned by the City of Toronto in late 2006 to design the sundial feature for the Air India Flight 182 Memorial planned for the Toronto, Ontario, waterfront. The Memorial was built in early 2007 in Humber Bay Park East which is located at the foot of Park Lawn Road south of Lakeshore Boulevard West.

The sundial is the central feature of the Memorial. It was unveiled by Prime Minister Stephen Harper on June 23, 2007. This date marked the 22nd anniversary of the bombing of Air India Flight 182 en route from Montreal to Delhi and Bombay in which 329 victims perished, and the bombing at Narita Airport, Japan, earlier that same day, that killed two baggage handlers.

Air India Flight 182 was lost on June 23, 1985, off the south-west coast of Ireland near Ahakista where a memorial was constructed one year later in 1986. The Toronto memorial evokes some of the features of its Irish counterpart, for example, the sundial was designed with a circular, horizontal base mounted on stones. The support stones for the Toronto sundial were donated by various provincial and international organizations representing all of the provinces and territories of Canada, and the countries of India, Ireland, Japan and the USA - all of whom were directly touched by the tragedy.

The overall concept for the Memorial was developed by Peter Klambauer, City of Toronto, Parks & Forestry Department, in consultation with the Air India Victims' Families Association. The Memorial consists of pathways, plazas, retaining walls, low walls, benches and the central sundial.

Mr. Klambauer describes the Memorial by saying:

"The sundial rests in a small plaza that is framed by two monumental walls, the inscription wall and the title wall. The inscription wall bears the names of the 331 victims. It is oriented in the direction of Ireland, measured at approximately 52 degrees East of North. The title wall follows the direction of the approach pathway, which transforms into a ramp that leads the observer onto the sundial plaza. The plaza itself has a quarter-circle edge with 3 radiating steps, which is intended to evoke a temple-like effect, and which may be the place for adorning wreathes and flowers. The title of the memorial is written on the granite capstone of the title wall, which faces the sundial plaza."