‘We can give it that home’: Military Museums of Calgary welcomes effort to save war memorials from The Bay stores

A new court filing shows Hudson's Bay will begin liquidating the six stores initially spared from closure because it isn't optimistic it will find a buyer.

Signs throughout Hudson’s Bay locations in Calgary say “everything must go,” but an effort is underway to make sure at least some of what’s hanging on the store’s walls goes to the right place.

A Toronto man is spearheading an effort to preserve and relocate the war memorials at The Bay stores in downtown Toronto and Calgary.

“What I’m engaged in trying to do is ensure that those memorials don’t get lost in the shuffle of the liquidation and find a new home so that they can continue with their original purpose,” said Patrick Shea, who is a lawyer and secretary of the 48th Highlanders of Canada.

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The small bronze plaque at the Calgary location had already been taken down and put away to ensure it wasn’t stolen, staff told CTV News on Wednesday.

It has dozens of names of Hudson’s Bay employees who died in the Second World War.

“Now more than ever before – or in recent memory, anyway – our national identity is being challenged. And these individuals, they helped forge that identity and preserve it. And we have to remember,” said Shea.

A new home for one of the plaques could be at The Military Museums of Calgary.

“The people on that plaque, obviously, were Calgarians who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. So, it makes sense that, if they’re looking for a home for it, we can give it that home here,” said Alison Mercer, the senior curator at the museums.

In a statement to The Canadian Press, a spokesperson for The Bay said the company is “mindful” of the cultural significance of its thousands of artifacts and pieces of art.

On Thursday, the company will seek permission in court to auction off most of its roughly 4,400 artifacts in a way that “appropriately balances the interests and concerns of all stakeholders.”