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Veterans Day opening set for memorial park
(by Sue Reid - September 16, 2009)
Veterans Day opening set for memorial park
By SUE REID
Solon's veterans memorial park is scheduled to be ready for ceremonies by Veterans Day, Nov. 11.
Solon Planning Director Robert S. Frankland said last week he has been assured by the project's consultants that the park will be opened by the date set by the city. The only piece of the puzzle that may not be in place is the actual granite monuments, he said. "We're assuming those will be done."
The fountain, gazebo and memorial patio area also are to be completed by the target date.
Assistant Public Works Director David Hromco said last week that the contractor on the project is in the process of constructing the seating walls that will go around the monument plaza. He said the excavation for the gazebo is complete, and the footer is ready to be installed.
In addition, the fence posts are being worked on, and soon the foundations for all seven new monuments will be installed, he said. Three of the previous old monuments will go back in the park as well, Mr. Hromco said.
Also, the city is getting everything ordered for the rest of the park, he said, and, weather permitting, work should progress quickly.
The seven new monuments are granite, and Mr. Hromco said the specifications called for them to be square cut at the edges. The recommendation from the stone supplier, however, was for a slight eased or radiused edge to take the sharp edge off. It would make it less susceptible to chipping, he said.
The cost for the new monuments is a little over $89,000, Mr. Hromco said. That cost includes the foundations and the monuments, as well as engraving on all seven, and the foundation for three previous stones.
The cost estimate for the entire park project is about $700,000. Expenditures at this point are about $30,000, Mr. Hromco said. "It's clearly our goal at this point to stay in the $700,000 range," he said.
Mr. Hromco said the next step is for the general contractor to begin underground electrical and paver work and other park improvements.
There are three contractors on the project. Brookside Construction Services is serving as the general park improvement contractor, Alba Contractors is doing the masonry work and Foti Contractors is doing the monument work.
Mr. Hromco said work is being done every day on the project and the city is monitoring the progress.
Mr. Frankland said the veterans memorial park is part of a larger plan for the Bainbridge and SOM Center (Route 91) raods intersection. He said Fire Station No. 2 was designed in accordance with this plan and the first part was the Walgreens drugstore.
Mr. Frankland said that the main pieces of the veterans memorial park include the fountain, which is right out by the intersection of Bainbridge and SOM Center roads. This fountain will be lit, he said. In addition, the park will feature a new gazebo, which is the same design as the former one. The new gazebo was designed based upon casts of the old one, Mr. Frankland said.
Also, there will be a memorial area which will go around the fountain. In that area will be monuments to each branch of the military and names of Solon residents who served in those branches will be included on the monuments. In between the monuments will be flags representing the branches of service, as well as an American flag.
Behind the memorial area will be a low sitting wall to look at the fountain and monuments and behind that willbe the rebuilt gazebo. The backdrop to the entire park is Fire Station No. 2, Mr. Frankland said.
"That basic design has been in place since 2001 when the planning department first submitted the center-of-town plan to City Council," he said.
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