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.
From a giant roof over Main St. to a subterranean souvenir shop, The Reminder has reported on some pretty imaginative community proposals over the years. Many never go anywhere and are quickly forgotten. Others remain in the public eye but fail to amass the support of City Hall or other relevant bodies. Let's hope neither scenario afflicts a pair of proposals before the new city council Ð one old and one new. The more recent one relates to a societal scourge. To honour victims of domestic violence, Colleen Arnold, executive director of the Women's Resource Centre, wants a stretch of Third Ave. renamed "Angel Ave." This would be a welcome gesture. And since this portion of Third Ave. (between Church St. and Hill St.) bears no physical addresses, it would appear to be a simple change. Domestic violence is still something of a taboo topic. Living in a relatively low-crime area like ours, it is easy to be lulled into a false sense that this epidemic is not present in our own backyard. It is, of course, and nothing speaks to that fact more than the need for a service like the Women's Resource Centre and its highly secure safe home. Any light that can be shed on domestic violence is a step toward solving it. Renaming Three years ago, City Hall fielded another street-renaming request, this one from the Royal Canadian Legion. The Legion asked that its long-time home of Hapnot St. be rechristened "Veterans Lane" to honour those who have fought for this country. "The Legion was here when Flin Flon was incorporated into a town in 1933; which is to say that our Legion has a long...history as part of Flin Flon," the organization wrote at the time. "As the Legion has stood on this spot since the doors were first opened, even rebuilding on the same lot after the fire, we would like to see our street 'Hapnot' change to Veterans Lane." Council never did honour that request, simply because changing the name of a street with so many addresses, though possible, is not exactly practical. Fair enough. But there are other streets which, like the aforementioned stretch of Third Ave., accommodate few or no addresses. Pine Ave., between Green St. and Queen St., is one example. Or perhaps there is an opportunity to combine the two requests put forth by Arnold and the Legion, an idea first floated by the newly re-elected Coun. Karen MacKinnon. Connection Flin Flon has a strong connection to military service, not only by virtue of the hundreds of past and present residents who fought overseas, but also through the military unit that was based here for decades. Early pioneers of Flin Flon have numerous streets, avenues and landmarks christened in their honour. Veterans, who gave us as Canadians the lives we enjoy today, should, too. Angel Ave. and Veterans Lane are hardly the most consequential issues facing this new council. But these proposed roadways do represent simple, inexpensive changes that would carry important symbolic value. Local Angle runs Fridays.
