County council has chipped in $5,000 into a town’s quest to create a new memorial to Bon Accord-area war veterans.
County council voted unanimously last week to donate $5,000 from the county’s contingency reserve plus a Sturgeon County flag to the Bon Accord and District Veterans Memorial Park.
Bon Accord is the only town in Sturgeon County that doesn’t have a war memorial or monument, said Coun. Patrick Tighe, whose riding includes the town.
Former Bon Accord mayor Dave Latta said he and some other residents started working to build a memorial park in town back in 2004.
“Our municipality as well as the other ones in the local area have a lot of military residents,” said Latta, chair of the park’s fundraising group, and the group wanted to create a memorial for them.
The group’s conceptual plan shows a grassy pitch with three concrete paths with benches that meet in a central plaza, said Latta. One of those paths leads to the monument, which will feature three large black granite slabs.
The left slab will feature the names of about 10 Bon Accord and district residents who fought and died for Canada during the two World Wars, the Korean War, and other more recent conflicts. The right one will list the wars in which they fought, while the middle one will feature a red Canadian flag and the words, ‘Lest We Forget.’ The United Nations, Canadian, Alberta, Sturgeon County and Bon Accord flags shall fly on flagpoles behind the slabs.
“It’s a place to go to and meditate,” Latta said, and could serve as a place to lay wreathes during Remembrance Day ceremonies.
“For the kids, it’s going to remind them about the wars. They’re not going to forget very easily.”
The group needs about $140,000 to build the memorial park and has raised about $115,000 so far when you count the county’s donation, said Tighe, who recently joined the group. About $100,000 of that cash comes from federal and provincial grants.
But Latta said the $50,000 from the federal government is up in the air right now since it’s conditional on the park being built by the end of March, which isn’t likely due to the weather. The group is working with the feds on a compromise.
The town of Bon Accord has already donated a small plot of land north of the town’s trailer park for the memorial, Latta said. He wasn’t sure of its exact dimensions as he hasn’t measured it yet, but said that the finished park should be about the size of a small parking lot.
Latta said the group was quite happy with council’s decision to support the park and hoped to start construction of it as soon as weather permitted.
Questions on the project should go to Latta at 780-718-1802.
