The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Volunteers behind Flinty's Park have nixed plans to merge the project with the chamber of commerce's proposed Peace Park. Graham Craig of the Flinty Committee said the group felt that the centrepiece of the Peace Park, 17 flag poles, would take up too much space and detract from the vision of Flinty's Park. "The number of flags that the chamber wanted to include in their Peace Park was far more than what could be used in the park without losing the concept of the Flinty Park itself," said Craig. There had been talk of moving the focal point of the park, the Flinty Submarine, south toward nearby Rotary Court and using the vacant area to erect the flag poles. "Flinty will stay where he is, as far as the plans are concerned," noted Craig. The poles were to have flown the flags of every Canadian province and territory, First Nation and Metis flags, and the national flags of Canada and the United States. The inclusion of the American flag met some public opposition, prompting talks of replacing it with the United Nations flag instead. The Flinty Committee will now focus on its original plans for the park, including installing lighting and bringing in vintage mining equipment for display. Work is expected to resume next spring after an eventful summer in which fencing was erected and the parking lot completed. As for the Peace Park, chamber vice-president Dave Kendall said the organization will now consider other potential locations. "It's back into the chamber's hands," he said. "We do want to certainly see something in the uptown area, so maybe there's something uptown that we could do." The chamber initially proposed to develop the Peace Park on a piece of vacant grassland along South Main St., adjacent to Hapnot Lake. But upon further discussion and feedback, it was decided that a more suitable location could be found.
