Gurnee board approves finish date for veteran's memorial

Gurnee village board members approved a development agreement Monday night that ended an argument over a partially built memorial for military personnel who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Trustee Kirk Morris heads a private foundation, The Geoffrey Morris Memorial Foundation, that will continue to build Heroes of Freedom Memorial Park. The organization is named for Morris' son, a U.S. Marine who died in 2004 while serving in Iraq.

Under the deal, the memorial must be completed by Dec. 31, 2014, with installation of bronze statues occurring in the last of nine phases.

Mayor Kristina Kovarik and Morris clashed in October over the memorial pegged for the village's former police headquarters site. She criticized the foundation for not making substantial progress on the memorial over the past five years.

Although village board members agreed to establish the memorial in March 2005, the foundation was never named to be in charge of the effort within any official documents.

Trustees voted 5-0 in favor of the agreement between the foundation and village. Kirk Morris recused himself from discussing the issue or voting on it Monday.

Before voting, Trustee Jeanne Balmes criticized Morris for threatening the village with a lawsuit when the controversy boiled over in October. She also said Morris' supporters have unfairly painted her as being against war veterans because she raised questions about the memorial.

"I've put up with this nonsense over the years," Balmes said.

Trustee Greg Garner said he was satisfied with the agreement and called the dispute over the memorial "embarrassing" for the village.

"Our veterans give to us the ultimate sacrifice," Garner said, "and we should appreciate that."

Morris was not an elected official when he began the effort with encouragement from village officials. He has been trying to raise funds for the project through the nonprofit foundation.

Plenty of work must be done to complete Heroes of Freedom Memorial Park, which supporters envision as a regional destination.

So far, there are nine flag poles representing every military branch and lights, but a planned walkway, sculptures and a garden have yet to be built.

Roughly $200,000 will be needed for the life-size bronze statues planned for the memorial depicting Geoffrey Morris, Warren Township President Sean Maher and Libertyville's Wesley Wells. All of the men were in the Army or Marines and died in battle between 2004 and 2005.