The former Royal Heights Park is anticipating a significant facelift, after its dedication to the veterans and members of the Royal Canadian Legion Estevan Branch 60. The park was renamed Royal Heights Veteran’s Memorial Park, with the unveiling of an official new sign to mark the change on Aug. 18.
The renaming and dedication are the first of many projects to enhance and revitalize the infrastructure already present within the park, noted Mayor Roy Ludwig, one of the local dignitaries present at the afternoon event, which included the announcement of a plan to build the commemorative Wall of Honour. The wall will feature the names of 1,250 veterans from Estevan who served in the First World War, the Second World War and the Korean War, peace support missions, and those who suffered accidental death in Canada.
“We’re going to put up a wall to commemorate all the brave men and women who’ve given their lives in the First and Second World Wars, and the Korean War. It’s a privilege to be working together with the Legion to help something like this happen,” said Ludwig. “This was a collaborative effort between the City of Estevan’s employees and the Legion.”
Ludwig noted that an important feature of the Wall of Honour is its inclusion of not only the names of those who perished in service, but “those who survived and came home.” It’s been a project that’s been in the planning and research stages for the past several years. Troy LeBlanc, board president for the Estevan branch of the Legion said the wall is planned to go up in the area around the gazebo and the splash park.
LeBlanc said the wall is a way of creating more monuments to commemorate in the community. He noted that including anything on the land by the court house, where the cenotaph is located, would have proven far too complicated and difficult, due to assorted property and placement limitations.
Eileen Rosner, a past president of the Estevan Legion said, “When the wall is all done, it’s going to be magnificent.”
Other updates to the park will include the relocation and refurbishment of the gazebo, to accommodate the construction of a new pad for the splash park, the planting of new trees and the construction of new paths. Rod March, parks manager for the City, said the majority of work this season is focused on the gazebo and the pad for the splash park, while other changes are scheduled for next year. The work on the gazebo is expected to be done in the next two weeks, while the splash park is anticipated to be updated in about six weeks.
“We’re trying to get (the gazebo) safe for everyone. Once that’s done, we’ll be planting some trees,” said March. “The Legion will be putting in their Wall of Honour, and some plaques on existing benches, that sort of thing. We’re then going to redo the walkway.”
Leblanc noted the Wall of Honour’s timeline is much more unclear, but suggests spring 2016 as a possible start date. The wall is going to be the first in an ongoing series of projects for the Legion, rather than anything with a particular set ending date. The Legion took over sponsorship of the park at the beginning of 2015, and will be continuing to work in partnership with the City to implement assorted plans it has for the park.
“In 2016, most of the major construction will be done, but the Legion will be doing small projects,” said March. “They won’t be slowing down. They’ll be doing many things for years to come.”
