MAKING HISTORY
Atlantic Memorial Park Society hopes to begin Chapel Point Battery restoration in the fall.
The Atlantic Memorial Park Society is continuing its effort to create a sea-side journey of remembrance that brings Canada’s military history to Cape Breton.
The project will be completed in three phases and a consulting report for phase one, which will include the restoration of Chapel Point Battery, was recently completed by Dillon Consulting of Sydney.
The study took place last year and the consulting company presented it during a Cape Breton Regional Municipality council meeting in December.
“It showed that it (the Chapel Point Battery) was fundamentally sound,” said Brian Ferguson, vice-chair and planning director for Atlantic Memorial Park.
“The structures are very solid and simple need to be restored and a certain amount of rebuilding that needs to be done on the command post.”
Atlantic Memorial Park Society is now attempting to raise the funds to move forward with the restoration process and a comprehensive funding plan is underway.
The restoration will be completed in sub-phases. The cost of restoring the command post is expected to be around $947,000. The remaining work, including the restoration of the underground elements, will cost about $2.8 million, totalling $3.7 million.
“We’re seeking funding from government agencies for the bulk of the money and we’re also seeking about a $100,000 contribution from cooperate and private donors,” said Ferguson.
“We really would encourage the residents of Cape Breton to consider making a donation to this worthy cause.”
The society is hoping to secure the funding required for phase one this summer, with the hopes of beginning the project in the fall.
“Hopefully over the next year between 2019 and 2020 we will have completed phase one,” said Ferguson.
Phase two and three of the project will include the completion of a family park and playground near the Edwards Pond, Lochman’s beach area, and a first nations replica encampment in the Neil’s Woods area.
Once those phases are done, the society will begin the development of a historic themes site on the Princess Mine plateau.
“We haven’t jumped into phase two of the consulting study, but we’re doing the planning now with the society and its volunteers,” said Ferguson. “We will be moving to more detailed planning for those phases and we will be using consultants in the near future.”
The idea for Atlantic Memorial Park was started over a year ago by Cyril Aker. The proposed site consists of about 120 acres of publicly-owned land in the Sydney Mines area.
Recently, the project received the formal indorsement of the Dominion Command of the Royal Canadian Legion, said Ferguson.
“It’s really important because they have 1,430 branches across the country,” he said.
The overall project is expected to cost around $26 million, with the bulk of the money being dedicated to the creation of the historic themes site.
The society is optimistic they will be able to secure the funding to get the project started.
“We’ve contacted well over 100 organizations in Canada that are in the business of providing support to charitable organizations,” said Ferguson.
“The key to this is obtaining sufficient cooperate funding to demonstrate that there’s support for the project within cooperate and private funding – if every Cape Bretoner was to give just a few dollars we’d be over the hump.”
Ferguson said if everything goes as planned, the Atlantic Memorial Park will be completed in 2023.
For more information or to donate to the project, visit www.ampheroes.ca.