Park respecting vets envisioned for downtown greenspace

The Prince Albert Army, Navy & Air Force Veterans (ANAVETS) 222 branch wants to create a veterans’ memorial park in a small greenspace in the downtown area.

It is looking to purchase the parcel of land at 1102 Central Avenue, adjacent to City Hall. The land is owned by the City of Prince Albert and it’s valued at $42,000.

The local ANAVETS branch plans to apply for funding through the Canada 150 grant to purchase the land, but will seek city council’s approval before moving ahead with the application. The grant is designed for projects that upgrade existing community and cultural facilities in Western Canada.

Currently, the space is known as the Central Park Bistro, with a sign above the pocket park’s entrance. There is no seating within.

ANAVETS 222 general manager Holly Chow said they would love to see the space remain green, since it’s the only park on Central Avenue in the downtown area. She said they would place a monument in honour of veterans and flag poles to fly the Canadian, Saskatchewan and ANAVETS flags.

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“It would be just an overall veterans’ monument and what we’re hoping is that possibly families that lose family members that were veterans, we want to give them the opportunity to donate park benches or sponsor flower beds in the name of the person they’ve lost,” Chow said.

She said that when the ANAVETS loses a member, the flags will be lowered to half-mast in the park so that everyone is aware of the loss. As well, on Remembrance Day and Decoration Day, the ANAVETS may also hold a small ceremony in the park.

The idea for the memorial park has been in the works for a couple of months.

The ANAVETS 222 branch is currently taking donations and will be fundraising to generate enough funds to purchase the park. No fundraising events have been planned yet.

But a move forward with their plans for the memorial park hinges on their grant application being approved.

“We won’t be going forward unless we can get a grant or some assistance for this,” Chow said.

However, if they are able to secure the needed funding, she said the ANAVETS hope to open the memorial park sometime next spring.

The ANAVETS will be making a presentation to the executive committee on Monday. The committee will then decide to forward the request seeking support for the grant application to the planning and development services department.

tjames@panow.com

On Twitter: @thiajames