The Sunset Hills Board of Aldermen again discussed a proposed World War II Veterans memorial at its July 9 meeting.
Spearheaded by petitioner George Despotis, the proposed memorial is set to sit at the corner of West Watson and Lindbergh Boulevard. The location is the future site of a previously-approved bank, also proposed by Despotis, which was approved by the board last year. The memorial will be on the bank’s property. As part of the passage of preliminary development for that bank, Ward 2 Alderman Casey Wong required at that time that a water feature be submitted with the final development.
Though nothing is finalized, Despotis presented a few ideas to the board showing an 18,000-pound, 4-foot-by-4-foot-by-9-foot tall black granite obelisk with approximately 120 names on each of its three sides, along with the emblems of six different branches of the armed forces – the Marine Corps, the Navy, the Army, the Air Corps, the Merchant Marines and the Coast Guard. Around the monument, there would also be space for either a sitting wall or benches.
“I’ve got probably a couple hundred names right now that are fully consented. We have a list of maybe somewhere around 175 additional World War II veterans from the Sunset Hills area – or relatives, family members. The issue there is that we don’t have those consents right now… it’s just a matter of trying to identify the next of kin to say, ‘do you mind if we honor them by putting their name on this?’” Despotis said.
Following his presentation on the preliminary concept, the floor was opened to the board for questions. While the visual aesthetics of the proposed monument were touched on a bit, the main focus of the discussion was the lack of a water feature included in the recent presentation. At its April 23 meeting, the board approved a site plan for Despotis that specifically stated there would be a water feature at the site along with the memorial.
“The final development plan was approved and a water feature was specifically noted on the site plan, so if he were to remove any features that were approved on that final development plan, that would need to go through the approval process of planning and zoning and then on to the Board of Aldermen. This is why he’s asking for your opinion so that he doesn’t initiate that extensive process if it’s not something the board would entertain ultimately,” City Administrator Brittany Gillett said.
Many aldermen said they were strongly in favor of the water feature.
“Well, personally, I love the water feature, and was looking forward to that as part of that landscape,” Ward 1 Alderman Ann McMunn said. “I think there’s been several of us over the years that have been wanting a water feature, and I personally would prefer the water feature and trying to incorporate the names in maybe some other fashion.”
“I very much favor a water feature,” Wong added. “In large part because it’s such a prominent corner, and thinking 25, 50 years into the future, I think a nice prominent water feature on that corner would better suit Sunset Hills.”
Despotis explained that after consulting with architects and engineers, a water feature is just not feasible in the location based on safety concerns due to limited space and the weight of the proposed obelisk.
“There’s a subterranean pipe that supplies water. If that breaks … it could leak water in the area and it will destabilize the soil, change the compaction of the soil. The impact of that compaction could affect the foundation that this monument is on and then ultimately could affect the monument itself and it could tip over and even fall,” Despotis said. “I don’t think there’s any place I really could put a water feature and have this monument there. It’s not a liability that I would want anyone to embrace.”
Discussion between Despotis and the aldermen went on for quite some time, with the majority of the board remaining strongly in favor of some sort of water feature at the site. Finally, Despotis said he would “go back to the drawing boards” to see if he could incorporate an aquatic aspect at the site to appease everyone.
“It’s not going to be a fountain. It’s not going to be a primary large structure. My aim is to try to keep the obelisk and do some type of water feature – I can see what I can put together. It’ll take me another month and then we’ll have to reconvene next month and I can represent it,” Despotis said. “If I (can’t) come up with an alternative plan (and) if the consensus doesn’t want to approve the obelisk over the water feature, then I’ll just go ahead and do the water feature and forget the obelisk.”
A follow-up meeting is yet to be scheduled, though it will be made public and available for community members to attend.
“As the grandson of a World War II veteran, I hope that Mr. Despotis does go through with this,” Ward 3 Alderman Greg Colombo said. “I hope we don’t discourage him and this goes away. I think that these veterans do deserve that respect and that memorial. And for him to have brought this to us, I’m thankful. I hope we can actually make it come to fruition.”
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