Village of Stirling receives funding for cenotaph project

Background information on the Village of Stirling’s cenotaph project is below.

————————————————–

The Village of Stirling is taking on a project to honour veterans.

The southern Alberta community is in the process of creating and erecting a cenotaph.

CAO Scott Donselaar said the monument will be a way to commemorate the sacrifices of veterans from Stirling and within the area who fought during World War One and World War Two.

The project will cost $52,000, but fortunately, the village successfully applied for a $25,000 grant through the Commemorative Partnership Program at Veterans Affairs Canada, alleviating some of the total cost.

Donselaar explained that the remaining cost will be covered by the village, but “there’s a significant in-kind portion to it.”

“Our public works department is doing a lot of the site prep itself. So, they’ll be stripping the land, grating it and then doing a lot of the pouring of the concrete and settling for the foundation, because the cenotaph itself is quite heavy.”

Lethbridge Monumental will be ordering in, preparing and delivering the stone to the village, with Donselaar hoping it gets to Stirling no later than September.

He added that, “there are dollars that the village will have to outlay but a significant amount of that is in-kind costs from utilizing our own resources.”

Rendering of the cenotaph (Village of Stirling)

Stirling mayor Trevor Lewington has done a “significant amount” of research into finding the names of people from Stirling who served in the armed forces. Through that process, Donselaar said the village has been connected with Glenn Miller of the Lethbridge Legion and the Last Post Fund. Miller has been helping out with ideas for the cenotaph as well. Donselaar said the village is excited because with the monument set up, Stirling will be able to host its own Remembrance Day ceremonies and “have a place where people can come and honour those people who served.”

READ MORE: Last Post Fund recognizing veterans with special gravestones

He also believes it will serve as a “community centre point” for Stirling, as it will be located in the green space on the west side of the village’s administration building.

Additionally, the cenotaph will add an important component to the revitalization of 3^rd Street.

Donselaar explained that, “a number of years ago, the village undertook a school revitalization project. So, the school got a significant number of dollars to update their facility and improve the amenities at the school. 3^rd Street is kind of our main hub street; it attaches to the school, the village office, the LDS Church and kind of ties in with 4^th Avenue, which is kind of our commercial corridor.”

“3^rd Street itself went through a significant number of infrastructure upgrades because it’s one of our main areas for our water and sanitary system and now we’re doing some resurfacing on it – we’re adding a bike lane, widening the sidewalks by the school and creating a bus loop for the school, so it’s kind of beautifying the area and is adding a lot of functionality to it as well, so it’s bringing in some of those amenities that we can then continue to further develop on in the village itself.”

He told LNN the village is planning to host its own Remembrance Day ceremony for this year.

He commented, “I think there’s going to be quite a lot of positive residential feedback. Stirling itself, as a village, it’s got a very strong community spirit and people like to support the different community events.”

“I think once we start hosting Remembrance Day ceremonies, we’re going to have quite a good turnout and we’re going to have quite a number of community groups and people wanting to be involved.”

Another pro to the cenotaph is its educational component for students at Stirling School. Donselaar said Glenn Miller has been reaching out to the school to incorporate more acts of remembrance within the school system.

He said that, “all too often, Remembrance Day can be seen as one day a year – or the idea of remembrance.”

“It [remembrance] carries forward beyond just November 11.”

More details on the cenotaph project are available through the Village of Stirling’s website.

by Justin Goulet

Village of Stirling receives funding for cenotaph project

What's Happening