Elgin council approves veterans memorial

Elgin's long-awaited Veterans Memorial along the Fox River could be completed around Halloween and dedicated Nov. 4 if all goes according to plan.

City leaders Wednesday approved spending up to $746,528 on the memorial, which will be just north of the Gail Borden Public Library.

The Elgin-based Shales McNutt Construction and Naperville-based Hitchcock Design Group will partner in the project.

Hitchcock President Rick Hitchcock said crews have an aggressive schedule and officials hope to dedicate the memorial before Veterans Day on Nov. 11 so that day will be about veterans, not the plaza itself.

The end product, he said, will be something to make the entire community proud.

"The whole strategy for this is to develop two separate but very dignified spaces," Hitchcock said.

To the east will be a wall with room to honor the four major armed service branches and two others along with flag poles. To the west will be a solitary flag pole near the river.

"Symbolically, facing the east is very uplifting," Hitchcock said. "Symbolically, facing the west is very solemn. It recognizes veterans who have given their lives for their country."

The design had to be scaled back earlier this year and a veterans committee signed off on it last month.

The original site, a former city public works location also north of the library, was polluted with oil and other contaminants and had to be cleaned up under direction from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

As a result, the memorial was moved to a site of about 5,000 square feet.

Mayor Ed Schock credited library officials for adjusting their plans to accommodate the scaled-down memorial.

"Without their cooperation, this could not have moved forward," he said.

Officials hope to break ground May 29.