Elgin veterans memorial site gets go-ahead

The long-awaited Elgin veterans memorial finally has a home.

The Gail Borden Public Library board voted Tuesday to allow construction of the memorial next to the library.

In exchange for use of the land, city of Elgin officials will let the library district use additional parking spaces near the new branch library going up near Bowes Road on the city's west side.

The decision to build the memorial next to the library wasn't much of a surprise.

The veterans had held a ceremonial groundbreaking at the site on Veterans Day -- two days before the vote.

"We feel this is going to be a wonderful project," library spokeswoman Denise Raleigh said. "Our board is very interested, as well as the library staff, in having the memorial next to the library."

Now the question becomes how to incorporate the new memorial into existing plans for teaching gardens, floating wetlands and an illuminated fountain on the library site.

"It will just be coordinating the teaching grounds along with the veterans memorial," Raleigh said. "We just want them to complement each other."

The library board's vote ends several months of speculation over the location of the new memorial.

City officials had originally hoped to build the memorial on the city's old public works property, north of the library.

But those plans hit a snag earlier this year when a study suggested additional cleanup was needed to remove contamination at the site.

The cleanup would have pushed the memorial project back 18 months or more.

But now, veterans say they should be back on schedule -- with a planned opening on Veterans Day of next year.

"I think it's excellent," said Jack Cook, chairman of the memorial committee. "I'm satisfied we can, if we get into the building season, accomplish what we set out to do. And that's get this built by Nov. 11, 2008."