Memorial would stretch 353 metres along Highway of Heroes
Jan 27, 2010 - 01:02 PM
By Jennifer Stone
CLARINGTON -- The Municipality won't be getting behind a proposed memorial to soldiers who have died in Afghanistan, because it appears to be a commercial venture.
Gordon McCallum approached Clarington council Monday, asking for endorsement of a project called The Memorial of Heroes. The proposal calls for a "landscape memorial" along Hwy. 401, on land he and two partners have acquired at the end of Rickard Road.
The memorial would be comprised of a stone structure with a gold maple leaf and a soldier, along with trees planted to honour each deceased soldier, and a series of 12 sponsorship displays, each 12 by 8 metres. The sponsorship funds would be used for the initial engineering construction of the memorial and its continued maintenance. Eventually, it could turn a profit.
"From a business point of view, we're looking for a return," Mr. McCallum said.
That didn't sit well with Clarington's councillors.
"I have got to suggest that that concerns me somewhat, that you are trying to make the sacrifice of our vets into a profit-making enterprise," Councillor Adrian Foster said.
Council voted not to endorse the idea.
"I just think this is for commercial gain, commercial advertising," Councillor Charlie Trim said. "It's not the spirit the Highway of Heroes has."
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