St. Albert city council will hold a vote on whether or not to rename St. Anne Promenade to Veterans Way, following a notice of motion submitted by Coun. Mike Killick during council's last meeting.
St. Anne Promenade would be the only affected roadway under the motion, with St. Anne Street's name remaining. The debate and vote will likely take place upon council's return from summer break on Sept. 2.
Killick said he was inspired to submit the motion by a resurgence of support for veterans in recent years, while also wanting to do something more permanent than the commemorative crosswalks that have sprung up across Canadian cities.
"Painting a crosswalk is often kind of temporary and it takes ongoing maintenance," Killick said. "I saw this as an opportunity to work with the Legion and find a more permanent way of recognizing the contribution and sacrifice they have given to Canada."
He said he felt St. Anne Promenade was the perfect street, given it's where the Legion parades down to the Cenotaph on Remembrance Day. Although crosswalks are a popular choice for commemoration, he said they may not be the best.
"They're expensive to put in there, they're expensive to maintain, they have to be repainted every couple of years," he said. He said last year some municipalities considered a poppy crosswalk, but the idea was seen as offensive, with the National Poppy Foundation opposing the image of the poppy being stepped on or driven over.
Despite this renaming debate taking place in early September, when Grandin will officially be renamed to The Gardens, Killick said he keeps the two activities separate in his mind, given Grandin is a full neighbourhood with residents on certain streets affected by address changes. It had to go through a much more rigorous public consultation process.
"When I thought of the Promenade, there's no addresses on that street, there are no businesses that are on it. So this seemed to be a much simpler process to be able to do it through a council motion," he said, and added he thinks this renaming will have a strong level of support from residents.
"I think it's got a broader St. Albert appeal. It's not just one neighbourhood that's being affected. It's really something that reflects St. Albert community values I think," he said.
Coun. Sheena Hughes said she is not opposed to changing the name to Veterans Way and has nothing against the Legion, but is surprised by the process.
"Council just voted down reviewing anything further on the renaming policy and keeping everything as is," Hughes said. "So council decided we aren't going to change our processes at all, and now we have a notice of motion that does not follow that same process. So regardless of who's being affected or not, we're not following the same processes."
Killick's motion said he would like to have the road changed by Remembrance Day, meaning the debate will likely take place during one of council's meetings, once councillors return in September.
