Â鶹ÊÓƵ

The committee looking after the new Forever in the Clouds monument didn’t receive the news they were looking for.

The committee wants the monument to be located on the east lawn of the Estevan Courthouse. It makes sense to them; after all, the Estevan Soldiers’ Tree monument and the cenotaph are on the west lawn, and the courthouse is a central, high-traffic area of the city.

The monument is also a beautiful tribute to the 20 pilots and one groundcrew member who died on Sept. 15, 1946, when their airplane went down near the former location of the Estevan Airport.

It’s one of the most significant moments in our city’s history, yet only a fraction of the community knows about it. A suitable location is key to creating more awareness about those who perished.

But the provincial Ministry of Central Services believes the courthouse lawn isn’t the right location, and rejected the local request.

The ministry cited the existing number of memorials on the courthouse lawn, as well as safety issues, as reasons for rejecting Forever in the Clouds. But they could have also used those arguments about the Soldiers’ Tree. They didn’t, the Soldiers’ Tree went next to Estevan’s cenotaph. Frankly, there couldn’t be a better site in the city for the tree.

There likely wouldn’t be a better location for Forever in the Clouds, either, than the east courthouse lawn.

Unfortunately, the Ministry of Central Services disagrees, and barring a cave-in to public pressure, or a sudden change of heart, Forever in the Clouds won’t be where it should be.

So where should it be located?

The monument is currently at the Estevan Regional Airport, and some might argue that is a good spot due to the aviation connections. But the airport is out of town, it’s not a high-traffic area and not enough people will see it.

Lester Hinzman, who is on the monument committee, said it might have to go to Moose Jaw, since he has received excellent support from that community and there is a Canadian Air Force base in Moose Jaw. But as Hinzman points out, this is an Estevan story and the monument should be in Estevan.

And so other local parks might be an option. There’s the Royal Heights Veterans’ Memorial Park, with the tributes to veterans that are planned for the future.

But there are other parks, such as the Eli Mandel Park next to the Estevan Art Gallery and Museum, which would also be a logical site. The park has long been underutilized, and its location on Fourth Street would still offer lots of visibility for a monument that deserves to be seen.

The committee responsible for the monument might not have gotten the news they wanted from the provincial government, but at least they have other location options in Estevan.