True North moved the famous statue of Timothy Eaton to the Portage Avenue Atrium of the soon to be completed MTS Centre in downtown Winnipeg early today. Willm's Craning Ltd hoisted the cast bronze statue, which weighs 3,500 pounds, into place at the skywalk connection level of the facility. At a later date, masons will re-assemble the five tons of marble that make up the base and permanently fix the statue in place in its new home.

The Timothy Eaton statue, which was originally presented to John Eaton in 1919 by the employees of the Winnipeg Eaton's store to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the T Eaton Co., was designated a heritage object by the province of Manitoba in 2002.

Placement of the statue in the new sports and entertainment centre is just one of the ways that the history of the Eaton's store is being remembered. Also moved into place today were the two large bronze memorial plaques that commemorate 315 Eaton's employees who died in World War One and 263 who died in World War Two. The Eaton's Retiree's Association, a group of former Eaton's employees that still meets on a regular basis, felt that it was of the highest importance that the plaques be recognized and memorialized by designing a new place of honour as close as possible to the original Portage Avenue home. This has been done.

"Incorporating the artifacts into the design planning was important to enhance and enrich the significance of our location on Portage Avenue," True North President and CEO Jim Ludlow said. "The statue has a real social connection to this community. We hope that all of the objects put on display will recreate the sense of a downtown meeting place that Eaton's represented and preserve the attachment so many people felt for the history of the location."

An entire Tyndall stone storefront display window from the Eaton's store along Portage Avenue was also preserved prior to demolition of the building and moved into MTS Centre today. The heavy blocks of Tyndall stone and the ornate brass window surround are being put back together to be permanently mounted in the skywalk atrium. The storefront window will provide a display area for a variety of T Eaton Co. memorabilia.

At a later date, the original bronze plaque commemorating the first Eaton's Board of Directors meeting in Winnipeg will be placed on the Donald Street exterior of MTS Centre as close as possible to its original location on the southeast corner of the first Eaton's store. The two-foot by three-foot plaque commemorates the July 12, 1905 meeting that was presided over by Timothy Eaton, President.