<!--Rick Forgione--><table width="234" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" background="http://static.cnhi.zope.net/flashpromo/niagaragazette/images/byline_234x60.jpg" height="60"><tr><td><div align="center"><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By Rick Forgione</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></font><font size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="mailto:rick.forgione@niagara-gazette.com">rick.forgione@niagara-gazette.com</a></font></div></td></tr></table>
Plans to construct a veterans memorial park in Niagara Falls soon will receive a big boost thanks to $500,000 in city casino funds.
Mayor Paul Dyster’s administration is drawing up a memorandum of understanding agreement with the Niagara Falls Veterans Memorial Commission allowing the city to disperse the funds into the project, which has been in the planning stages for almost two years. Though the funding won’t cover the project’s entire cost, Commission Chairman David Fabrizio praised the city’s support and said it’s proof the memorial will one day be a reality.
“We are getting closer,” he said earlier this week. “Our target is to break ground Memorial Day 2010. We are committed to this and we are going to deliver.”
Designs for the memorial park, presented during a September City Council meeting by Fabrizio and project architect Wendel Duchscherer Co., call for a main monument and smaller structures along with a walking bridge to be created on 6 acres of property at Hyde Park. The gateway would be located at the corner of Pine Avenue and Hyde Park Boulevard and consist of a depiction of the Iwo Jima flag raising. A foot bridge would then lead visitors over the lake and to the main memorial section along Robbins Drive.
The main memorial will be the tomb of the unknown soldier and will include the names of 960 local soldiers killed during battle. Leading up to the monument would be smaller structures honoring about a dozen Falls soldiers who earned a Medal of Honor. The park, which will be completed in multiple phases, may also include structures honoring living veterans and other amenities.
“It’s going to be a place of destination,” Fabrizio said. “You will not see a memorial of this magnitude unless you go to Arlington (National Cemetery).”
Specific cost estimates are still being calculated, but Fabrizio said he anticipates the project to exceed $3 million if everything is included in the plan. He noted the $500,000 in city casino funds will cover most of the main memorial’s construction in the first phase.
Dyster said the city is proud to support the memorial park but cautioned that the commission also will need to seek other revenue sources.
“As it has been presented, it’s a very, very ambitious project,” Dyster said. “It sounds like it’s going to be done over multiple phases with different elements. There needs to be an outreach effort on their part.”
The nine-member commission, which is registered as a not-for-profit, is planning to hold fundraising events and donation drives locally and will apply for a multitude of state and federal grant money.
“Now that the city’s portion of the money has been resolved, we have a pretty good understanding of what we have to do,” Fabrizio said.
He said final construction costs should be known by Jan. 10, at which time commission members will begin discussing whether any aspects of the project should be eliminated from the final design to save money.
“Our first priority is the construction of the main monument,” Fabrizio said. “We would like to do the whole project. As we get money in, we can add to it.”
Contact reporter Rick Forgione
at 282-2311, ext. 2257.
