The Maplewood architectural firm, Hellmuth & Bicknese, presented four variations of a planned veterans memorial plaza at last week’s city council meeting, to get feedback from the council members.
The memorial is to be in front of city hall, and $75,000 is in the city budget for its construction.
All variations included a wall of those being honored, a pool and seven flags—including the four branches of U.S. military service, MIA and POW flags, and one pole with U.S. and Maplewood flags.
The council liked a variation that had a natural shaped pond, rather than one bordered by granite. A bridge goes over the pond leading to the front door of city hall.
This does not strike me as a memorial that invokes the type of emotion and gratitude that it should. It just looks likes some improvements are being made to the city hall landscaping to improve the view from the offices inside.
If the city is going to spend that amount of money, the result should have an impact. We have been at war for ten years now and this is an appropriate time to show some gratitude. Have the designers/city asked for any input from local military families and veterans as to how we can thank them for their sacrifice???
I agree with Emily that I’d like to see other options for use of the money be discussed. I think this location for a memorial is about as unlikely to be used as the one at the Heights.
Can’t we use this money towards improving our community instead of just making our city hall prettier (like fixing broken sidewalks, installing new, attractive street lights, etc.)? I don’t see this as the best allocation of $75,000. For a veteran’s memorial, I would prefer it be in a space where people would actually enjoy it. City hall is not exactly located in an area that sees much foot traffic.
Agree with your comments Emily. Hardly anyone uses the front entrance to City Hall so it will just be passed by & not seen by many.
Doug, which branch of the U.S. military service is not getting included? There are four flags but five branches.
Joe – there was no discussion of one of the branches being left out.
Thanks Doug for the response. Am I correct in assuming that the Coast Guard was forgotten about by the panel members?
Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines operate within the Dept. of Defense.
While the Coast Guard operates underneath the Dept. of Homeland Security during peace, it can have its authority transferred to the Dept of Navy, as has happened during each World War. As a result, it is most definitely recognized as one of the FIVE armed services. Although the commandant does not sit on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in any official ceremony the USCG will have a rightful place (as it should in a memorial as well).
Is the council just looking to spend money??? With today’s economy, this just doesn’t make since to spend 75K on. I wholly support the military, police, fire fighters, but as a taxpayer, I don’t think now is the time to spend money on this. It’s a nice gesture but the timing is wrong.
It’s kind of blah because it is a design taken from the standard memorial recipe. I would like to see something a little more out of the ordinary. 75k is a pretty limited budget so instead of going larger they should look at smaller, more meaningful designs. Not only should it capture the spirit of the men and women who served, but also the community they come from.