The Veterans Memorial Cenotaph, which has stood guard over Altona's downtown area for the past 25 years, is going to be relocated.

Altona town council has approved moving the monument to 10 Avenue NW in front of the Rhineland Pioneer Centre.

The decision to relocate the monument was necessary in order to make way for some of the infrastructure needed to address the community's downtown drainage problem.

Town council struck a committee earlier this year to look for alternate sites for the cenotaph and came up with several sites. Some of the other locations included the Memory Garden area on 10th Ave. NE, the Civic Centre property downtown and Janzen Centennial Park on 6th Street SE.

Mayor Al Friesen says council thought the location in front of the Rhineland Pioneer Centre was a good fit.

"Our committee made the recommendation based on good parking, access to power and water and easy access to a rain location for events being held there. It's also a high visibility area and right inside our overall park region."

The cenotaph was established 25 years ago and was initially spearheaded by a number of families. Friesen says the town did reach out to some of those families for their input on the relocation.

"They appreciated us reaching out to them and respected the decision we had to make. They also had some suggestions, but as we shared our ideas with them they were pretty good with whatever location we decided on."

Friesen feels the new location may draw more attention to the cenotaph and introduce the monument to a new generation of people.

The estimated cost for moving the structure is in the $35,000-$40,000 range, according to Friesen. The town has applied for a grant from Veterans Affairs Canada which would cover 50 per cent of those costs.