Rotary Club provides update on LAV III Project

by Lucie Roy

Rotary Club of Morinville member Gord Putnam provided an update on the LAV III Monument project at the Sept. 11 Council meeting.

The proposed location for the military Light Armoured Vehicle (LAV) III is at the new recreation facility with frontage onto Highway 642. The total proposed size of the site is about 31,400 sq ft. or about two-thirds of an acre and that would include the walking area, sod, trees and nine-foot-tall sponsorship signs around the LAV Memorial.

Previously tasked by Council to go out and get renderings with respect to the possibility for the LAV III project and what it would look like, Rotary members did just. They worked with HML and came up with a process where they could look at options from a LAV III on a slab of concrete all the way to the deluxe model which would involve a lot more.

“We went through that process and came up with what we think is a great looking project for the LAV III Memorial as well as with something that will please Council,” Putnam said, adding the full project would be about $450,000 in cash and in-kind services.

Fundraising is currently in place and ongoing to raise cash for up to $100,000 from sponsors and donors and the rest would in-kind services and grants.

Putnam said the focus is not on cash contributions but on grants and in-kind contributions.

Around the actual structure would be the educational component where teachers would have the ability to educate students with respect to Afghanistan, the war, conflict what ti was about, how it came about and who sacrificed their lives for Canada.

Putnam said it would create a lot of excitement for the site in general as it is something interesting and unique. There are currently LAV III in Calgary, Airdrie, Lacombe and Fort McMurray.

“We will likely be the only other one in the province for some considerable amount of time and the only one in Greater Capital Region,” he said. “This is unique for us. We get to have this. I am proud to say Morinville will have this site and something that will draw people from all over to take a look and see what it is all about.”

Putnam went on to say it is going to be an amazing project on the rec site lands and attract additional interest and tourism. The proposed installation would be spring 2019.

The LAV III is a monument dedicated to the 40,000 Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) who served and the 162 Canadians who lost their lives during the conflict in Afghanistan from 2001-2014. The monument is an actual decommissioned LAV III previously used by Canadians troops to carry out their missions. The LAV would sit permanently on display at the new facility providing residents of Morinville with a special place to visit and pay respects to a new generation of veterans.

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1 Comment

  1. A laudable project – perhaps…

    My only question is: Who pays for upkeep and maintenance?

    As long as this is ALL done through contributions, etc. and NOT taxpayer monies, I say “Git ‘er Done!” But the minute we start throwing tax dollars at it I get really sceptical.

    Service organizations such as the Rotary Club, the Lions Club, the Knights of Columbus and so on, all do magnificent work in a large number of areas. I believe. however, that none of them rely on tax dollars to see their projects through to completion and I certainly hope that the proposed LAV project will follow suit. We have far to many other, more important things to concern ourselves with.

    James G. O’Brien

    Major (retd)

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