The town has served notice to the Chinook's Edge School Board it wants to acquire the land under and around the Innisfail cenotaph.
The request was tabled and discussed at the school board's monthly meeting on Dec. 14, and deferred until January. Trustees said they needed more information about the town's intent to take over ownership of the 3,500 square feet of land at the intersection of 49th Avenue and Main Street.
"The board wanted some more detail. We have to look at costs that may be involved, who would be covering those costs. We have to look at the reasoning for wanting the transfer of land," said Shawn Russell, associate superintendent for corporate services, adding the school board assumed ownership of the land when it purchased its Main Street central office building from the province more than 20 years ago.
Russell said he will be talking to town officials to get more information about their request before the school board's next meeting in January.
Frank Colosimo, the town's director of operations, said the recent request to the school board was to see if there was "any willingness" for the transfer of ownership, noting the cenotaph is an important community asset.
He added if the town owned the property it would assume maintenance responsibilities of the land, particularly snow removal. Currently the school division has an agreement with the Innisfail Royal Canadian Legion for the property's maintenance.
"So when events occur such as the November 11 (Remembrance Day) event it would be held on town land," said Colosimo. "If an event occurs on a weekend when there is no Chinook's Edge staff to clear the snow, we can just send our forces over to work on it with it being on town land."
The cenotaph was unveiled on the property on Oct. 24, 1935. In May of 2014, major restoration work on the monument was completed at a cost of $13,000. The town picked up two-thirds of the cost with the remainder covered by the legion.
If an agreement for the land's sale is reached between the town and Chinook's Edge, it would have to be finalized with provincial ministerial approval.
