SUNDRE – The old cenotaph at the Veterans’ Homecoming Park in Sundre has been removed with plans to replace it with a much larger granite monument as part of a nearly half-million-dollar project that will also include improvements to the site.
The bulk of the approximately $425,000 to $450,000 cost will be covered by an individual who requested anonymity, said Moe Fahey, the Town of Sundre's events and festivals coordinator.
“This is a private donor that wanted to see this finished,” Fahey told the Albertan. “He’s just paying the bills as I send them to him.”
The project is a collaborative effort between the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #223 in Sundre and the municipality, she said.
“My job is to collaborate with an organization to get the projects done,” she said.
“This is going to be one of the most beautiful cenotaphs in all of Alberta,” said Jim Meitl, Sundre legion president.
Cenotaphs are a type of war memorial, although not all war memorials are cenotaphs, which are a more specific type of monument representing a tomb symbolizing the absence of the physical remains of those it honours.
A war memorial is a more all-encompassing reference for any structure or object commemorating those who served or died in war.
This past Remembrance Day, a picture of the old monument was taken by some residents who did not attend the community service but rather stood solemnly by the cenotaph to remember their fathers and grandfathers who died for Canada in the line of duty, Fahey said in a written statement.
Fahey said that she was sent a photo of the old cenotaph, which over time had weathered and become “a very sad-looking and neglected tribute to the men and women who served and sacrificed for our freedom.”
Fahey said she was then asked whose responsibility it is to look after the site. While Veterans’ Homecoming Park is situated on town-owned land, the cenotaph is the legion’s.
“But being they are mostly elderly and unable to do a lot of the caretaking themselves, we rely on volunteers,” she said, adding that in her opinion, “we all are responsible in a way to care for the monument itself.”
A cenotaph committee was subsequently struck with Sundre legion members Liz Smith and Dick Cruickshank volunteering to co-chair in collaboration with Fahey.
Work began shortly thereafter, said Fahey, adding she had asked the municipality whether the project could be considered under her purview and was given the green light.
The new monument’s design was inspired by a preliminary drawing by Callie Klettl-Davis, an artist local to Sundre, she said, adding the next step involved securing some funding and investigating potential options through provincial grants.
“The government applications were to be filled in less than 14 days; we could not come up with the info in that allotted timeframe,” she said.
While the municipality approved $5,000 through its grants to organizations program and Pieridae Resources donated a further $2,500 as well as in-kind volunteer labour and equipment, Fahey at first anticipated a long road ahead upon seeing the estimated price tag.
“I thought this is going to take a longtime commitment,” she said. “I made a few calls for funds, but everyone was too tapped out, and understandably.”
But as fate would have it, Fahey said she one day found herself conversing on her deck with one of her many connections over a drink talking about the project when this person committed to paying for the cement work, the granite monument, as well as the bronze soldier, which represents the vast majority of the project’s cost.
“It’s just amazing that this individual stepped forward and done this,” said Smith, who also praised the support from the town as well as the many other businesses that stepped up.
“We’re just so fortunate. We’re in an amazing situation,” she said. “Usually, we’re always scrambling for donations.”
The scope of the project includes a 6.1-metre by 12.2-metre (20-foot by 40-foot) cement base pad for the monument contracted to local company S&S Masonry, said Fahey.
The monument itself will be fashioned out of polished granite that stands at a towering 4.9 metres (16 feet) and created by Suncrest Memorials out of Calgary, which was the closest granite business who would take on this project, she said.
“They said 100 years from now, it’ll still be there.”
The main base will be grey polished granite and each side view of the monument will have crossed rifles in black engraving, she said.
Instead of mounting new plaques, all of the wording will now be engraved directly into a red granite background with golden-highlighted lettering. A panel in the centre will identify the Sundre and area soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice with the other two on either side listing all of the conflicts, she said.
“The plaques which were on the old cenotaph were taken off and will be displayed at the Sundre legion,” she said.
The new monument is expected to be unveiled early in November so the annual Remembrance Day service can be held there, she said.
The crowning piece that stands atop will be a 1.4-metre (54-inch) tall bronze statue of a Second World War soldier that will be made by Studio West out of Cochrane, she said, adding that element will take some time to be completed and be unveiled in 2026.
The monument will once complete reach a height of 6.4 metres (21 feet).
Tony Jordan, a Sundre resident and Olds College professor, also offered to make and donate 13 steel poppies to provide a finer finishing touch.
“These will be drilled into the cement base first step. We must have colour – the poppies will be painted red and powder coated,” she said, adding that work will be done by local company Kojah Powder Coating.
While the original two flagpoles will remain, another will be added in the middle for the Canada flag in memory of Sundre veteran Harvey Shevalier, who wanted a third mast installed but passed away a few years ago, she said, adding the other standards flown are going to be the Alberta and the Red Ensign flags.
The site will also be connected to power for lighting, which has been contracted to another local company Kliss Electric.
