Fredericton’s New Old Centennial Survey Monument

In June 1967, the Centennial Survey Monument (the “Globe”) was unveiled in Fredericton at a prominent location opposite the new (at the time) Centennial Building on King Street. The globe was located in the “Centennial Mall” which extended from King Street to Queen Street adjacent to the Playhouse. It was a large two-metre diameter half globe made of copper and bronze, and centered with a survey marker. The mall contained other monuments, including an obelisk, a totem pole, and the Bicentennial Globe, a sister to the Surveyor’s Globe.

The monument was part of a national project in Canada’s 1967 centennial year to honour the contribution of the surveying profession to the exploration and development of the country. Centennial survey monuments of different design were erected in all provincial capital cities and in Ottawa.

What is unique to the centennial monuments, differentiating them from other monuments, is their location. Each of the centennial monuments was referenced with its exact location. The latitude, longitude, and elevation of the Fredericton globe were scribed on an attached plaque, along with the distance and azimuth to adjoining capitals: Halifax, Charlottetown, Quebec, and Ottawa.

In 2005, the City of Fredericton announced that it was proceeding with a development of the Centennial Mall area, to include an office building and convention centre. The Association of New Brunswick Land Surveyors (ANBLS) lobbied the city to preserve the Globe, given the importance of its location. The City responded positively. The city’s consultant for the building, ADI Limited, was able to incorporate the location of the 1967 globe into the design for the new office building. The building is named Chancery Place, and is home to the Office of the Premier and many government department ministers.

With the location secured, the ANBLS undertook to have a new globe commissioned. A new monument was required because the space allocated was not sufficient to accommodate the former globe.

The ANBLS commissioned Fredericton metalsmith Brigitte Clavette to design and construct a new globe as an artistic re-interpretation of the 1967 globe. The new globe is approximately forty-five centimetres in diameter and is made of copper with a blue patina. The stylized earth features are made of bronze, and it is centred with a brass survey marker.

The new globe was installed in October 2015 at the main entrance to Chancery Place at 675 King Street. It is accompanied by the three original bronze plaques from the 1967 globe as well as a new plaque which provides detail on the new globe.

This project was undertaken with support from the following partners:

• The Canadian Institute of Geomatics, NB Branch
• Service New Brunswick
• UNB Department of Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering, and
• NB Department of Transportation and Infrastructure