Construct a Veterans Memorial for Springdale, AR

The Springdale Veterans Memorial Organization is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization designed to raise funds, build, and maintain a memorial to our veterans. A place to honor the values of liberty, freedom, and respect for veterans from all branches of service. A place where those who have answered our country's call can be cherished and remembered forever in our hearts. We have approval and a resolution signed by the Springdale City Council expressing their full support of this initiative and construction on city property located at JB Hunt Park. Our website https://www.svmo72762.org/ provides details on our plan, opportunities to join our cause and offers our community a means by which to donate to the effort. Over the past years, we’ve conducted mailings and participated in various networking events to get our presence and our cause out to the community and generate interest. We’ve also met with Mayor Sprouse and the Springdale City Council annually to apprise them of our progress. We’ve secured the council’s support to establish a memorial and their approval to site the memorial at JB Hunt Park. The council further approved us to proceed with a nation-wide design competition in which 36 designers answered our call for designs. Our winning design was submitted by Conor O’Shea of Hinterlands Urbanism and Landscape. Mr. O’Shea is a Landscape Architect and an Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois as well as the founder and director of the Landscape Strategies Laboratory. The Memorial Wall and Plaza occupy the center of the site and are cupped by densely planted tree groves, masses of spring bulbs, and flowering perennials. Gently mounding land-forms encircle the park, buffering noise and light from the surrounding community, and providing a stunning visual backdrop. The one-acre Great Lawn is a flexible space for a range of public activities including picnicking or watching events on the plaza. Its gentle upwards slope of nearly four feet helps provide views down towards the plaza. A ribbon of pathways and seat walls encircle the lawn, creating a sense of enclosure and areas to sit, relax, and take in the greatness of the space. Alternating rows of Loblolly Pines and Ginkgo make up the Stars and Stripes Grove. During the fall, the Ginkgo leaves turn bright yellow and fall off suddenly, creating a striping effect with the contrasting tall, narrow, and evergreen pines. At the Honor Grove, bronze plaques are nestled among Cinnamon Ferns and white Tulips beneath the cathedral-like branching of a grid of 28 American Elms. More details and drawings can be found on our website: https://www.svmo72762.org/