CLEVELAND, Ohio – A giant bandolier of steel and concrete is slowly rising on the banks of the Scioto River in downtown Columbus as a salute to the service and contributions of U.S. veterans.
The $75 million National Veterans Memorial & Museum (NVMM) is a project of the nonprofit Columbus Downtown Development Corporation (CDCC), and is dedicated to all veterans who served throughout the history of this country.
Construction of the 50,000-square-foot facility started on the seven-acre site on West Broad Street in 2015, and completion is planned for 2018.
According to the NVMM web site, the project “is neither a war memorial nor a military museum. NVMM will take visitors on a narrative journey telling individual stories and shared experiences of veterans throughout history.
“It will pay tribute to the sacrifices of servicemen and women and their families. History will be presented in a dynamic, participatory experience with photos, letters and personal effects, multi-media presentations, and interactive exhibits.”
The project started in 2012 when a group of veterans including the late Sen. John Glenn, astronaut and Marine pilot, talked about creating a place to honor veterans and educate the public about the country’s military contributions, according to Ann Taylor, CDCC chief operating officer.
Taylor said that originally the memorial and museum was going to be devoted to just Ohio veterans.
But planners then realized that by only concentrating only on Ohio, “it would be excluding some of the great stories of the service and sacrifice of all veterans, and there was no single monument or museum dedicated to the experience of 22 million living veterans,” she added.
Taylor said the NVMM will present the veterans’ experience through stories set along various themes that have been constant throughout history, such as leaving home, going to war and returning. “Some things always remain the same,” she noted.
The facility’s mission has been enumerated in four general areas: honoring Americans’ contributions through military service, connecting civilians with veterans, inspiring visitors to serve their nation and community, and educating young people about the history and value of military service.
To that end, more than 500 exhibits will be featured, created by the design firm of Ralph Appelbaum Associates, which has done work for the National Museum of African American History and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Exhibits will feature a combination of artifacts plus video and audio presentations including interviews with veterans, according to Taylor.
Individual features include a 360-degree, walk-around screen for film presentations, a Great Hall, Memorial Room, exhibition gallery, classrooms and meeting rooms, and a spiral processional rising to an open rooftop sanctuary. The surrounding grounds will be landscaped as a memorial grove for reflection.
Additionally, the NVMM could host events for active duty and retired military members, such as homecoming ceremonies, ROTC training and graduations, celebrations and parades.
Taylor said the NVMM currently is interviewing veterans and collecting artifacts for the facility.
She estimates that the NVMM could potentially attract several hundred thousand visitors per year. “We want to make it a premier destination for veterans and their families, and service organizations,” she said.
Former Air Force Col. Tom Moe, a Vietnam war POW and past head of the Ohio Department of Veterans Services, is doing project outreach with veterans groups nationally.
The NVMM has been “very, very well-received” among those groups, according to Moe.
He said that the facility could be available to such groups for reunions and other affairs, and also honor those organizations “that have done so much, not only to help veterans, but lobby for veterans in Washington.”
Moe was particularly struck by the education component of the NVMM.
“I think the education part is very important for all ages,” he said. “We certainly are going to focus on young people, but we want to show all ages what military service has done to help mold people into citizens.”
Retired Army Maj. Gen. Dennis Laich, chairman of the NVMM military advisory committee, described the project as “downright exciting in a number of perspectives.
“It not only gives voice to the sacrifices and contributions of military veterans and their families, but also serves as platform for the broader society to be educated and informed about these sacrifices,” he said.
Citing an existing gap between civilians and the military, Laich said the NVMM “will go a long way toward closing that gap.”
He described the design as iconic, stunning, eye-catching and yet still dignified.
Laich also noted that designers and architects involved in the project have meshed well with military advisors.
“They have been absolutely open to input from the military community, and gone to great lengths to understand the military community,” he said. “I think that will be reflected in the final product.”
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