City hall’s heritage advisory committee is sifting through the applications it received for its veterans’ banner program and expects to announce the potential candidates in the coming months.
The committee met in mid-March and learned from city administration that the City of Moose Jaw had dedicated a page on its website promoting the banner project, according to its meeting minutes presented during the April 10 regular city council meeting. That page allows residents to access more information about the project and apply for veteran banners.
City hall had received eight applications by mid-March, although it was unknown how many more it received by the April 6 deadline. Regardless of how many applications were received, veterans' groups are still thrilled with the project.
The committee will review the applications from April 10 to 19 and follow up with applicants from April 20 to 28 about whether they’ve been approved, denied or need to provide more information.
Meanwhile, the members have decided on a general banner template as a mock-up that they will provide to the manager of the Ontario-based Memorial Banner Program, the minutes showed. The group also plans to post full details of the approved veterans’ profiles on the webpage since all the information may not fit on the banners.
The committee will submit the approved applications to the banner production company by June 1 and expects to receive the banners back by Aug. 31. The city will install the banners between Oct. 26 and 31, leave them up for November, and remove them in early December.
Visit moosejaw.ca/veteranbanners for more information.
Heritage plaque project
A group of retired Moose Jaw teachers is assisting the heritage advisory committee with creating write-ups for updated plaques that will be placed on or near heritage buildings, the meeting minutes said.
Youth advisory committee members are also interested in helping with the video/QR code project and will reach out to heritage member Dave Wentworth for further instructions. Meanwhile, the committee is looking at creating plaques for historic sites, events or groups that are not confined to one building.
Specifically, the committee will fund a heritage plaque for the public comfort station in Crescent Park and a replacement plaque at St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church on High Street East.
Also, committee members and other volunteers involved in the QR code project will share a Dropbox link so they can save all media in one accessible place.
Outstanding items
The minutes noted that the committee also received updates on three outstanding items:
- The city will continue to assess the condition of the Coteau Street East bridge regularly and — for now — keep the bridge open to the public
- Member Janie Fries will contact Tourism Moose Jaw to discuss the future of the Old Cemetery Chapel
- The design is complete for the rehabilitation project for the Thunderbird (Fourth Avenue) Viaduct bridge, but the city needs approval from Canadian Pacific Railway’s engineering department. Communications with CP Rail are ongoing as the project is — or is supposed to be — an equal cost-sharing arrangement
The next regular council meeting is Monday, April 24.
