Restored Second World War-era Cape Breton battery opens on D-Day

On the 79th anniversary of D-Day, people gathered in Sydney Mines, N.S., for the unveiling of a small piece of Second World War history.

"(It’s) a restored 1940 fortification that was basically the defence of Sydney Harbour,” explained Gary Gallop, chair of the Atlantic Memorial Park Society.

While the spot, known locally as Chapel Point, was a strategic East Coast location during the Second World War, the battery and other structures at the site fell into disrepair over the decades that followed.

Back in 2017, the people behind the Atlantic Memorial Park project decided to start bringing them all back to life.

"A lot of people don't get a chance to get to Vimy Ridge or to Europe to see a lot of the monuments that are in place over there, so we thought we'd bring something a little closer to home - and it's the only one in Canada like it,” Gallop said.

On Tuesday, a sizeable crowd braved windy and, at times, wet weather to attend the grand opening.

"That's a really special thing, considering that at one time we had German U-boats in this harbour and these command centers were what was protecting the harbor,” said CBRM councilor Gordon MacDonald. “So to have that happen on D-Day, it's important for us as a community."

While what has been restored so far has been years in the making, what was unveiled Tuesday is only phase one.

Organizers say there will be three more phases before the project is complete.

"The second phase will be the development of a Mi'kmaq encampment,” Gallop said.

“There will be a playground and recreation area here on the beach where we are today. Then, there will be an - I guess you can say - a visitor's center and a monument.”

The Atlantic Memorial Park project is funded in part by different levels of government.

Once all is complete, organizers hope it will be both a local place of remembrance - and a tourist draw.

"They believe that this is going to be a tourist attraction that's going to be as big as the Fortress of Louisbourg or the Bell Museum, once all the facility is put together,” MacDonald said.

For now, plans are to open the restored battery to the public as a museum in the not-too-distant future. 

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