The Melfort Legion and a prominent citizen are concerned a revamp of the Memorial Garden would change the green space-focused nature of the downtown Melfort location.
John Wade made a presentation to council at their meeting Dec. 12 on behalf of the Legion, while Gordon Liddle, Melfort’s 2016 citizen of the year, represented himself.
A report on Main Street revitalization created by Cushing Terrell Architecture on behalf of Main Street Melfort suggested Memorial Garden be remodeled into a circular town square that could be converted to an outdoor skating rink.
The idea of replacing some of the green space with a concrete and tile square is something that doesn’t sit well with the Legion, which created the current incarnation of the garden along with the Rotary club in 2005.
“The place was originally supposed to be a place to reflect, sit on benches, just a peaceful place with trees, grass, plants and stuff,” said Bob Ellis, the Legion’s president. “We do not want it turned into a public playground. There are playgrounds all over the place; they don’t need to do that to us.”
Liddle’s assessment of the proposal was blunter.
“You’ll never guess what my inner soul was saying – and I’ll quote it to you: what adult citizen of Melfort could be so crass as to destroy our grassy area?” he told council.
Liddle also highlighted the local nature of the current garden.
“That garden was well-planned. It was a made-in-Melfort plan. Note that,” he said. “Everything in it has a place.”
Ellis said the Legion was also concerned about being able to access the cenotaph, which is in the garden, for ceremonies on days like Canada Day. There are also fears that by changing the nature of the area to a more play-focused area, there would be damage to the cenotaph.
Coun. April Phillips, the chair of Melfort’s community services committee, said after the meeting that she’s taking the concerns seriously. She said the proposal isn’t in any way set in stone.
“We always wanted Memorial Park to be a gathering place, a place [with],” she said, “barbeques and having family events there. We definitely don’t want that to stop.”
The councillor said the city needs to communicate better about possible changes to the garden to groups like the Legion.
“We’ll take this to the Main Street committee and definitely have that input worked into the plans,” she said.
Ellis said there was a course of action the Legion is hoping the city will take.
“We’d really like to see the city put a hold on any modifications to Memorial Garden. We’d like them to leave it alone and allow our committee – which has sort of been put to a stop – to continue with what we were doing.”
