Permanent lighting for Gurnee memorial a near-term goal

Gurnee Trustee Kirk Morris said he hopes installation of permanent lighting and other work can begin soon at a memorial for military personnel who served in Iraq and Afghanistan that has been a source of recent controversy.

Morris, who heads a private foundation that's been trying to build Heroes of Freedom Memorial Park, said time is running short for him to get donations from construction companies so work can start in the fall.

"We've lost four weeks now, so that's a problem," Morris said of his dispute Gurnee Mayor Kristina Kovarik.

Kovarik had contended Morris' group was incapable of finishing the memorial that's planned for the village's former police headquarters site on Old Grand Avenue. At one point, Morris threatened to sue the village if Kovarik pushed aside his foundation for a village committee she wanted to jump-start the project.

Now, both sides are working toward a written development agreement with construction timelines and guidelines. Morris, who began the memorial effort four years before he was elected as a trustee in April, will have to recuse himself if the agreement goes before the village board for a vote as expected in November.

Morris heads the Pfc. Geoffrey Morris Memorial Foundation, named for his son, a U.S. Marine who died in 2004 while serving in Iraq. Since 2005, the foundation has been attempting to raise money for what's supposed to be a regional memorial.

Although the agreement isn't finalized, Morris said he's seeking donations of labor and construction materials for the Heroes of Freedom site. He said the goal is to have concrete poured and the permanent lighting installed before winter sets in.

Much work must be done to complete the memorial. Nine flagpoles representing every military branch and temporary lights were installed in February 2006, 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 resident Sean Maher and Libertyville's Wesley Wells. All of the men were in the Marines or Army and died in battle in 2004 or 2005.

At a Gurnee village board meeting this week, bronze sculptor Cindy Seng of Warren Township said work is proceeding. She said volunteers have been doing their best to make the memorial happen.

"I will ultimately spend about a month in Oklahoma, largely at my expense, to finalize the bronzes," Seng said. "And I eagerly await the day."

Village board members had agreed to establish a memorial park in remembrance of U.S. military personnel who died in Iraq and Afghanistan in March 2005. Morris' foundation was not named in the resolution, nor was a construction timeline set.

Morris then assumed fundraising responsibility. He filed paperwork with the Internal Revenue Service to create the nonprofit foundation that bears his son's name.