Thursday, August 07, 2008
Published Friday, May 16, 2008 in Local
Contract approved to begin work on Veterans Plaza
The Times-Herald
The Veterans Memorial Plaza committee has approved a contract that will allow it to begin taking tangible steps toward constructing the plaza.
The tribute to Coweta County veterans, scheduled to be built at Jackson Street and Temple Avenue, has been in the planning and fundraising stages for more than a year.
According the Rob Tornow, chairman of the plaza committee and retired brigadier general, the committee agreed to hire Highgrove Partners of Austell to work with the group on designing and engineering the plaza.
"Highgrove has designed two city parks in Newnan," Tornow said. "This was a company that had experience here, and the city has had experience dealing with them. Their numbers looked pretty good, so we decided to go with them."
While the cost details are yet to be finalized, Highgrove's prices are within the committee's budget. The committee will be utilizing some donated labor and materials, so a series of meetings with the contractor will be necessary to refine the pricing.
According to Tornow, Newnan Utilities has agreed to install electricity for the plaza, and the committee plans to have further discussions with them to finalize those plans. They also have yet to order the plaza's bricks and granite, but they currently have bids from two companies offering similar prices on these products.
Fundraising continues to be an integral part of the development of the plaza. Bricks have been for sale since last year to help cover the costs of the project.
"Things have been a little slow," Tornow said. "We've got up around $100,000, and we've sold a little over 1,200 bricks."
Bricks continue to be available for sale in support of the Veterans Memorial Plaza. Community members are encouraged to stop by the city manager's office to purchase a brick or a brick gift certificate at $50 each. Bricks may be imprinted with the name of a veteran, family member, loved one, or with any other message that is not offensive.
Businesses are also encouraged to support the plaza. Tornow noted that several businesses have promised donations to the committee, and others have already given their monetary support.
"We are currently in the process of putting an acknowledgment tablet together to give credit to those who have given significantly, as well as pro bono gifts," Tornow said.
In addition to the brick area with plaques, The Veterans Memorial Plaza will include statues of Coweta County's two Congressional Medal of Honor recipients, and Tornow noted that he continues to be in touch with the sculptor who will be contracted for the project.
The plaza committee continues to work hard at making this tribute a lovely part of the Coweta County community.
"It has been a deliberate process, and 10-15 members of the committee have shown up every time," Tornow said. "We have scrubbed down all the bronze plates, checked for accuracy of name and date, and revisited everything to make sure everyone is comfortable with it. We've made a few modifications, but it's not too different from what we wanted when we started.
"As I look back, I wish we were about three to four months further along, but I'm very pleased with the progress we've made, and we've reached consensus on what we're doing here."