In 1908, Sir Sandford Fleming donated the property to the citizens of Halifax for use as a park and proposed the construction of a tower within it to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the establishment of representative government in Nova Scotia the province having held on 2 October 1758 the first elected assembly in what is now Canada. An ardent imperialist, Fleming also intended the proposed tower to serve as a memorial to the development of parliamentary institutions in the British Empire, now the Commonwealth. Designed by the architects Sidney Dumaresq and Andrew Cobb, the tower stands out as a rare form of architectural expression in the pre-World War I period of rising Canadian nationalism and fervent loyalty to the British Empire. The Memorial Tower is architecturally important because it combines Italianate influences with local construction methods and materials. The ten-storey high stone "Dingle Memorial Tower" plan was accepted by the City of Halifax and the local Canadian Club undertook a fundraising drive to pay for construction. Donations were received from throughout the British Empire and plaques commemorating the contributions, as well as stones from all of the countries of the Empire were placed on the interior walls. It was formally dedicated in an impressive ceremony in August 1912 by Canada's Governor General the Duke of Connaught who was also Queen Victoria's son Prince Arthur. The presence of members of the Royal Family and dignitaries from other parts of the Empire emphasized the importance of the occasion. In 1913, two large bronze lions at the foot of the tower were donated by the Royal Colonial Institute of London. Designed by British sculptor Albert Bruce-Joy, they are similar to Sir Edwin Landseer's lions at Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square. Copied from wikipedia: Sir Sandford Fleming park