An update on the Levelling Stone in the Precinct - Video and audio transcripts

Cllr Jim O’Boyle: “Hello everybody and welcome to 2021 which at the moment I know you’ll all be thinking it’s a bit like 2020. So, I’ve just got something here that hopefully will cheer a number of you up. You can probably see that I’m just in the Precinct, Upper Precinct, in the city centre.

 “You’ll know work’s going on. Here’s the first bit of good news. Even though restrictions are in place a number of pieces of work can still take place and this work here in the city centre is still ongoing and we’re still on schedule to be ready by May this year. So, that’s the first bit of good news. Why am I actually just standing right here? I’m standing here because I’ve asked Will the Cameraman just to scroll down, I’m just going to kneel down on what is the levelling stone here in Upper Precinct.

(Kneels Down)

“You may have heard of it, I know a lot of the history buffs out there will be watching this, know all about this. It was laid in 1946. An interesting point about it is, firstly it depicts Coventry rising from the ashes after the war that’s what the phoenix is depicting and this actual piece here.

(Gestures to a round metal piece in the middle of the stone which the camera then zooms into)

“That I understand is where the builders and the architects took their measurements from when they actually built the precincts that we’re standing in today back in the 1940s and 50s. So that the historic part of it. Here’s the point, I want this

(Gestures to stone)

“to be pride of place, I know lots of people want it to be pride of place in the Precinct and so it’s going to stay in situ. It’s just going to be repaired. It’s going to be polished up and actually bring it back to the life and actually how it looked when it was first put down in 1946. So, little bit of good news to start 2021 and I’ll see you very soon when we have another update on the work ongoing."