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Bidding to begin for St. Peter Area Veterans Memorial

Free Press - 2/20/2017

Feb. 19--ST. PETER -- Contractor bidding for the St. Peter Area Veterans Memorial will start soon so construction on the project in Minnesota Square Park can begin by May 1.

The Veterans Memorial Association Board is going over the last few items to prepare, including checking name spellings and in-kind donations for the long-awaited memorial, said Pell Johnson, an association board member.

It took six years of planning and more than 18 months of fundraising before the project got the final go-ahead with a building agreement from St. Peter City Council in December, with the stipulation that construction begins before May 1 and wraps up before Aug. 1.

The association and the council also need to select an artist to commission for the sculpture in the center of the memorial that will be installed in 2018, as the last portion of the memorial.

"We have two proposals, and hopefully we'll be getting more," Johnson said. "Then we'll meet and select four finalists to send to the City Council for approval."

The sculpture must represent peace and freedom without being abstract or using military symbols or flags, Bob Lambert, association chairman, said in December. The commission for the piece is $100,000.

David Hyduke, a Mankato City Art Sculpture Walk artist and Kasota Township resident, and Greg Mueller, who created the 9/11 memorial bench in Mankato, are believed to have submitted proposals for the St. Peter memorial, said St. Peter artist Michael Cimino.

After the memorial is complete, the city will take over its upkeep. Lambert said the team wants the meaning of the sculpture to be easily understood.

The cost of the memorial was originally estimated at $600,000. The memorial will feature granite walls with names of service members and a circular honor wall in the center with the names and photos of service members from the St. Peter area who lost their lives while in the military.

The cost of the memorial went up to about $700,000 after the board decided to change the lighting and structure of the memorial to make its upkeep less costly.

The association board will meet to discuss bidding on Tuesday.

It costs $250 to place a service member's name on the wall. The person being honored doesn't have to be from the area or have served during wartime.

The honor wall is free for families living near St. Peter who want to add a family member who died in service to the wall. It is $500 for families outside the St. Peter area. Anyone interested in having a name placed on the memorial should go to stpetervetsmemorial.org

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