Work on the planned upgrades to Pioneer Cemetery is continuing.

Those plans, however, no longer include a move for the cenotaph from its current location at city hall to the cemetery.

Doug Hnatiuk, the city’s manager of parks and community development, said this week construction of a new gateway has begun.

Future plans include interpretive panels as well as space for the development of a columbarium – a room or building with niches for funeral urns to be stored.

The initial plans would have seen the cenotaph moved to the cemetery along with all the other design changes.

Hnatiuk noted that those plans were altered last February, after a meeting determined public support for the moving of the cenotaph just isn’t there.

More visible location

As Hnatiuk said, it was clear the public – including members of the local legion – want the cenotaph to remain in a more visible location, such as where it is now.

Those sentiments echo similar arguments made during a council meeting in 2015 when the project was first proposed.

The current cenotaph gets a lot of people passing by who stop to see it.

The cemetery would not get that same kind of traffic, it was argued.

“If you cannot see it, is it relevant?” one delegate asked the city at that time.

On the other side of the argument, it was pointed out that hosting even small events at the current site can be dangerous for those who have to stand close to the road. It can also be difficult to hear those speaking at such events due to the heavy traffic on Second Avenue, including loud trucks and motorcycles.

Ultimately, by the time the February meeting rolled around, Hnatiuk said it was clear the public favoured a more visible location than the cemetery.

The decision was made that it will remain at city hall.

As he pointed out though, the cenotaph will be part of the more detailed planning work for a new services building anticipated for the area.

In the meantime, work is underway to build the new entryway at Wood Street and Sixth Avenue.

It follows significant work researching – including using technology that can look at what’s underground – graves, as a number of older stones had been covered over with grass and plants.

Groups like the Yukon Order of Pioneers, the local Legion, the RCMP veterans group and the Downtown Residents Association, as well as families with members buried at the cemetery, have all been involved in the planning and providing information on the cemetery.

Church and military records were also used in the efforts, Hnatiuk acknowledged.

“It hasn’t been just the city,” he said.

Funding for the project – at more than $400,000 – has come from Canada 150 funding with much of the planning work done over the last couple of years. This phase of the work is anticipated to finish up in the spring.

Work on the future columbarium will be done as funding becomes available, Hnatiuk said.