Lake in the Hills breaks ground on veterans memorial
Lake in the Hills village officials broke ground Tuesday on a long-planned veterans' memorial at village hall.
Roughly 100 people attended a brief ceremony at the memorial site with members of the American Legion Color Guard presenting colors and third-graders from Lincoln Prairie Elementary School singing the national anthem and other patriotic songs.
The conceptual design for the memorial includes five large slabs of granite representing each of the branches of the military connected by a 2-foot wall. It would be erected near the gazebo behind village hall at 600 Harvest Gate, at the southeast end of the property. An American flag would stand in the center of the memorial, flanked by an Illinois state flag on one side and a flag representing prisoners of war and those missing in action on the other.
The project could cost up to $250,000 and take possibly three years to complete.
Thus far, the Veterans Memorial Committee has collected $80,000 not counting pledges of $37,500 from the Lake in the Hills Rotary and Castle Bank, village board member and committee Chairman Russ Ruzanski said.
"We are well on the way," said Ruzanski, who along with Village President Paul Mulcahy, has been pushing the project for several years. Both men are Navy veterans who served during the Vietnam War.
Ruzanski said he has secured an estimate for the carving and installation of the five granite slabs for $45,000, but is seeking more bids.
Over the summer, workers laid down a walkway leading from the gazebo to the site of the memorial and to the back door of village hall. That pathway eventually will extend out to Harvest Gate, Ruzanski said.
"We have a temporary setup of a memorial," Ruzanski said. "We have a flag in the spot and have (three) banners out. Today, we just put some stakes in the ground (representing) the granite pieces."
The granite slabs will bear the insignia for the different branches of the military. They won't be installed until spring, he added.
"There is an outside chance that it could be done by Memorial Day next year," Ruzanski said.
Residents can purchase commemorative paver bricks to be placed along the pathway for the memorial through the village website, www.lith.org.
Some Castle Bank locations are accepting donations for the veteran's memorial fund. Contributions can be sent to Village Hall, 600 Harvest Gate, Lake in the Hills, 60156. For details, call (847) 960-7400.