Save Juno Beach............

[Chris Preston]

'Afternoon All,

Not sure if anyone else has seen this, but a French developer wants to redevelop Juno Beach in Normandy, and put sea-side condos on the beach. Would they do this to Omaha Beach? This requires attention:
https://www.savejunobeach.ca/

Chris Preston

[maple_leaf_eh]

Thanks for the heads up. It is their country, and they will do as they wish. But, properly funding the Juno Centre is always a good idea.

[Tim Bell]

Perhaps Canada can buy the land from the developer, thereby safeguarding it for the future?

[Ed Storey]

Originally Posted by Tim Bell

Perhaps Canada can buy the land from the developer, thereby safeguarding it for the future?

Hehehehe, you don't know Canadian politicians that well do you?

[Tim Bell]

Originally Posted by Ed Storey

Hehehehe, you don't know Canadian politicians that well do you?

I am sure they are the same as all the others... wont do a damn thing unless it is in their personal interest and financial gain.

[chris vickery]

Really, is it not for the Government of France to deal with?

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Ed Storey

Hehehehe, you don't know Canadian politicians that well do you?

A little background to prove the point. The Canadian government was approached to fund a museum on Juno Beach, the only major country not to have done so.

No interest.

So Walmart of all corporations fundraised and organized the museum you see there today (I won't speak to its quality, maybe it's gotten better since I was there). Then, at the last minute an embarrassed government threw in a little cash and shamelessly took centre stage at the opening ceremony ribbon cutting.

Pardon my cynicism but if our current government could save a few bucks by forgetting about the museum, the beach and the whole historical event called D-Day they'd support oceanfront condos in a heartbeat.

[Ed Storey]

Originally Posted by Bruce Parker

A little background to prove the point. The Canadian government was approached to fund a museum on Juno Beach, the only major country not to have done so.

No interest.

So Walmart of all corporations fundraised and organized the museum you see there today (I won't speak to its quality, maybe it's gotten better since I was there). Then, at the last minute an embarrassed government threw in a little cash and shamelessly took centre stage at the opening ceremony ribbon cutting.

Pardon my cynicism but if our current government could save a few bucks by forgetting about the museum, the beach and the whole historical event called D-Day they'd support oceanfront condos in a heartbeat.

Bruce, I am glad you provided the background as few people understand the events that transpired with respect to the funding and initial government interest in the museum. I and most Europeans I know who are familiar with SWW history also agree with the you concerning the quality of the museum. In fact, some 10 years ago, the museum was close to being permanently shuttered due to low visitation and required additional federal funding just to stay open.

Looking at their 11th hour plea for support, I would have thought that this move to build condos close to the museum would have been brought to the public's attention long before now. As well, the wording of the pleas is not very specific as to exactly where the proposed condos are going, I think I know the location but am not 100% sure, so it might be hard to garner support without more precise details.

While we all hate to see development encroach on famous battlefields, this is essentially a French matter about French soil and what they want to do with their land. Back in 1993, just ahead of the 50th Anniversary celebrations, the original Pegasus Bridge was removed and replaced with a newer bridge to accommodate road improvements. Few people were happy at the time given the importance of the bridge to the D-Day story, but that is now in the past as the original bridge is only 60m away forming part of the Pegasus Memorial.

[James P]

Originally Posted by Chris Preston

'Afternoon All,

Not sure if anyone else has seen this, but a French developer wants to redevelop Juno Beach in Normandy, and put sea-side condos on the beach. Would they do this to Omaha Beach? This requires attention:
https://www.savejunobeach.ca/

Chris Preston

I could be all wrong but I doubt that all those huge houses along Blvd de Cauvigny to the east of the Vierville draw (Dog Green and White back in the day) where there on D-Day.

[Lang]

I think it is quite OK for them to do what they want so long as the events are remembered by museums and memorials. It is presently recent history only for old farts but fast fading into old history for the world as a whole.

Almost every inch of Europe and Asia have been swept over by battles far larger and more costly than anything that happened on D-Day (the whole campaign not even in the top 10 for WW2) and they are simply recorded by various markers and a page in a history book - many not even that.

Even the "recent" history of the millions lost in WW1 battles has faded from the collective memory and is commemorated mainly by graveyards and a relatively few museums and town memorials. Much of it is now covered by freeways and towns.

Life goes on, the world keeps turning and once those directly connected to events fade away they become mere footnotes in school history books overtaken by more events relevant to today.

These in turn (no matter how big or far reaching) will eventually be consigned to the pages of irrelevant history as current problems naturally arise. This is the condition of man.

If we are interested we should be doing something about it. How far back do governments have to go?

Lang

For those who are interested this consolidation from Wiki puts some perspective on it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o..._by_casualties

[Hanno Spoelstra]

“ Canadians fighting proposed condo development at Juno Beach D-Day site”

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/jun...ment-1.6381018

[Lang]

The museum and nearly all the comments on the article (including those who lost relatives at Juno) seem to have little problem with buildings on the site.

The dispute seems to be little more than a standard commercial problem about roads, access and disruption during construction.

Lang

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Read more here:

https://legionmagazine.com/en/2022/0...on-juno-beach/

[Ed Storey]

After reading the Legion I am even now more confused about the proposed location and wish someone would post a map to show the proposed development site. From my perspective it looks the JUNO Beach Centre is dissatisfied with the impact construction will have on their access road, whereas Clegg appears opposed to all new construction.

The concluding statement about “You don’t see condos on Omaha Beach. You don’t see condos at Dieppe. You don’t see condos at the Battle of Waterloo. Why would you have condos on Juno Beach?” is not quite accurate as the site to the north and west of the Waterloo Bute du Lion was redeveloped a few years ago - for the construction of a new museum and parking.

[rob love]

If you google Juno beach map, you will see the construction site just on the other side of the center's parking lot.

Here is a French article showing where the condo's will be: https://www.ouest-france.fr/normandi...6-49a3371759cb


There would appear to already be some smaller condos in the corner which would already use the center's access road.