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Construction begins on permanent Humboldt Broncos memorial site
Although hearts were as heavy as the wind and rain coming down, it was all smiles and hugs as members of the Humboldt Broncos Memorials Committee and families of the deceased from the 2018 Humboldt Broncos crash gathered at the crash site to break ground on a permanent memorial structure.
Since the accident in April 2018, the site has become a common stopping point for hockey teams and members of the public passing through to pay tribute to the 16 players and staff who lost their lives that day, but now Saturday’s sod turning has marked the first step in creating a proper memorial site.
Kurt Leicht is a member of the committee and a Humboldt local who lost his son Jacob during the crash. He said that there has been a number of hoops to jump through since the committee first officially met in February of 2019 due to sightlines at the intersection and the nearby railroad track, and it’s thanks to a large community effort that’s allowing this project to move forward.
“To actually get to the groundbreaking, we had a number of delays mainly from our government crown corporations over the years. That’s what’s taken us the longest period of time, but we’re here today to finally get it started. Kirsch Construction will begin on Monday at the site here, WestCrete Concrete from Humboldt is also volunteering their time, we have Paramount Paving going to be doing the paving, we have a couple companies out of Nipawin that we’ll be doing the other part of the project for concrete and we can say a big thanks.”