Sunset Hills BOA Discusses WWII Veterans Memorial and Water Feature
Date Posted: July 30, 2024
Posted In: Discussion, Projects,
From Call Newspapers: The Sunset Hills Board of Aldermen again discussed a proposed World War II Veterans memorial at its July 9 meeting.
Spearheaded by petitioner George Despotis, the proposed memorial is set to sit at the corner of West Watson and Lindbergh Boulevard. The location is the future site of a previously-approved bank, also proposed by Despotis, which was approved by the board last year. The memorial will be on the bank’s property. As part of the passage of preliminary development for that bank, Ward 2 Alderman Casey Wong required at that time that a water feature be submitted with the final development.
Though nothing is finalized, Despotis presented a few ideas to the board showing an 18,000-pound, 4-foot-by-4-foot-by-9-foot tall black granite obelisk with approximately 120 names on each of its three sides, along with the emblems of six different branches of the armed forces – the Marine Corps, the Navy, the Army, the Air Corps, the Merchant Marines and the Coast Guard. Around the monument, there would also be space for either a sitting wall or benches.
“I’ve got probably a couple hundred names right now that are fully consented. We have a list of maybe somewhere around 175 additional World War II veterans from the Sunset Hills area – or relatives, family members. The issue there is that we don’t have those consents right now… it’s just a matter of trying to identify the next of kin to say, ‘do you mind if we honor them by putting their name on this?’” Despotis said.
Following his presentation on the preliminary concept, the floor was opened to the board for questions. While the visual aesthetics of the proposed monument were touched on a bit, the main focus of the discussion was the lack of a water feature included in the recent presentation. At its April 23 meeting, the board approved a site plan for Despotis that specifically stated there would be a water feature at the site along with the memorial.