Resident calls for protection of memorial to construction worker killed on Clonmore Drive in light of upcoming development plans
By MATTHEW STEPHENS
A local resident is calling on the City of Toronto to ensure the preservation of a “irreplaceable memorial” dedicated to a construction worker who was struck and killed by a vehicle while signalling traffic at a townhouse construction site on Clonmore Drive in southwest Scarborough in 2020.
“A permanent memorial to Adam (Chmielarz) was painstakingly handcrafted of heavy steel and installed into a base of solid concrete at the place he died,” local resident Richard Hennick said in a recent email to Beach Metro Community News.
“It is not only a unique, original work of art and craftsmanship; it is an expression of deep grief and love, and it also embodies a cultural and religious tradition that goes back centuries.”
The memorial is dedicated to Adam Christopher Chmielarz: a 31-year-old ironworker from Utopia, Ontario who worked on the construction of the townhouse buildings at 168-184 Clonmore Dr., near Queensbury Avenue.
Despite having no personal or familial connection to Chmielarz, Hennick said his compassion for the fallen ironworker stems from their shared careers in the field of skilled trades, and that he often stops to appreciate the memorial during his walks in the area.
“As a recently-retired skilled-trades worker who lives in the neighbourhood, and who over my decades on various worksites has sometimes avoided sudden death only by sheer good fortune – by mere fractions of a second of an inch – I have taken the time to stop and look at Adam’s memorial several times, and I have made a sincere effort to research and appreciate it’s significance,” said Hennick.
Located just west of the townhouse development, Chmielarz’s memorial is in the shape of an approximately 15-by-34-inch-long cross assembled in two layers of steel and concrete, bearing his name, the letters R.I.P., and the date of his death.
According to Hennick, the lettering on the memorial was “carefully crafted by hand,” with a level of precision that “would take tremendous skill and experience,” to produce.
With a redevelopment project planned for close to the memorial, Hennick said he fears that it could be in “imminent danger” of damage or destruction.
“A single careless movement with a piece of heavy equipment could destroy this irreplaceable memorial as fast as Adam’s own life was destroyed,” said Hennick.
In 2024, Toronto City Council approved a rezoning proposal for a 12-storey residential building at the site of 150 Clonmore Dr., directly adjacent to Chmielarz’s memorial and the sidewalk.
In a letter issued to the city’s Senior Planner of Community Planning, the project’s core development team and Scarborough-Southwest Councillor Parthi Kandavel, Hennick cited an “urgent need” for the memorial’s preservation when construction begins at 150 Clonmore.
Hennicke’s note requests that if the memorial cannot be protected from heavy machinery, or if the sidewalk or property line must be physically altered, the 150 Clonmore project developer should coordinate with city engineering staff to safely remove and return it to the site when the project is completed.
In a statement to Beach Metro Community News, Nhat-Anh Nguyen – the city’s Director of Engineering Review, Development and Growth Services – said construction crews carrying out work at 150 Clonmore will be required to “take the memorial into account and consider measures to protect it during construction.”
“We are aware of concerns about the memorial dedicated to Adam Christopher Chmielarz at 150 Clonmore Drive. As the development moves through the approval process, the applicant will be expected to take the memorial into account and consider measures to protect it during construction,” said Nguyen.
“If future work is found to affect the memorial, we would work with the applicant and relevant partners to ensure options for its preservation, relocation, or reinstatement are considered as part of the application review process.”
