Gerry Carline with his original memorial proposal

 

Moose Jaw's newest war memorial continues to grow as local historian Gerry Carline's vision gets bigger. The original plan was for an Air Force Memorial to be put near the Cenotaph in Crescent Park. It began as a way to re-use an old memorial that was found covered in dust a number of years ago.

Carline approached the city about the project and was granted permission to install the memorial to the north of the Cenotaph but he says the idea has grown significantly since then.

"Part of it is the original Air Force Memorial from World War I." explained Carline. "I want to put up an additional memorial to the First World War soldiers who died from the area, there are 409. It's really strange that the city doesn't have a memorial."

Carline adds that he's also planning to put statues of a pair local war heroes if he gets permission to go ahead with the project. He says once all the pricing is in place he'll present the revamped project to City Council for approval.

Since the project has grown, he is looking at a different location for the memorial. Instead of overshadowing the Cenotaph, he's hoping the city will allow the project to be located near the main entrance to the park on Fairford Street East.