Lantzville has a new site for its war memorial cenotaph.
Now comes the hard part – paying for it.
Council approved a recommendation Monday to build the new cenotaph on a portion of Huddlestone Park, a block away from the existing memorial on Royal Canadian Legion Branch 257 property.
The legion found the current location, off Lantzville School Road, difficult to accommodate crowds attending Remembrance Day ceremonies, and the cenotaph should reflect the community rather than Branch 257.
A committee involving the legion, District of Lantzville and Snaw-Naw-As First Nation searched for a new site and Roy Cardinal, Branch 257 president, said he is happy with the location.
“It will be the community’s cenotaph with lots of room for people to gather in the park for the ceremony,” he said.
The project is now in the design and fundraising phases with costs estimated between $150,000 and $200,000.
“I believe there is up to $50,000 available from the federal government through Veterans Affairs Canada and the central poppy fund, said Cardinal. “There are other avenues that we have, but we’re probably going to have to raise a good $100,000 of our own money to do it.”
Legion members have also given some thought as to what the cenotaph should look like and represent.
“It won’t be a traditional cenotaph. It won’t have a cross on it and it definitely won’t have somebody with guns on it,” said Cardinal. “It’s going in a park where kids play and we want it to be generic so it fits the community and fits everything that goes around in life these days.”
Lantzville Mayor Jack de Jong said council is pleased with the location but wants to see the finished design before final approval.
“The objective is to make it something for the community,” he said.
The scheduled date for completion of the cenotaph is Nov. 11, 2013.
“That depends on engineers and the number of government hoops we have to jump through,” said Cardinal. “We also want to work closely with the First Nations and the community to make sure everybody is happy.”
