Village and park district officials in Wauconda are considering linking memorials to the town’s local veterans and to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The memorials are within sight of each other on the southwest corner of Route 176 and Main Street. The park district maintains Memorial Park, which was built in the 1940s and honors military veterans, while the village owns the Heroes of Freedom Memorial, which was dedicated in 2015 and pays tribute to the Sept. 11 victims.
Village trustees say it’s an opportunity to update the park district’s memorial — which makes no mention of the Korean or Vietnam wars — and to finally finish the Heroes of Freedom Memorial. Displays intended to relate what happened Sept. 11, among other details, have never been finalized.
During Tuesday’s village board meeting, Trustee Lincoln Knight announced he’s spoken with park district Director Nancy Burton about the possible project.
Other trustees enthusiastically backed the plan.
Trustee John Barbini was particularly excited about updating Memorial Park to include references to the wars that have occurred since World War II.
“I think it’s a fantastic idea,” he said of a partnership.
Trustee Tim Howe was similarly supportive, noting both sites have thematic connections.
“These two parks, these two memorials, speak to one another,” Howe said.
Burton couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Dave Dato, a member of the volunteer Heroes of Freedom Memorial committee, said a physical link between the two sites could help “tie (their) concepts together.”
The Heroes of Freedom Memorial — the centerpiece of which is a steel beam salvaged from one of the fallen World Trade Center towers — is the subject of a nonbinding question that will appear on Wauconda ballots for the April 4 consolidated election.
Voters will be asked if storyboards for the village’s memorial should include text about the U.S. military’s participation in the war on terrorism and the war in Afghanistan.
Displays mentioning those military conflicts were removed shortly after the memorial was dedicated in September 2015 because they were put up without the village board’s approval.
Mayor Frank Bart, mayoral candidate Bryan Anderson and trustee candidates Mike Silverman and Dan Casper were among the people who gathered signatures for the referendum. Silverman and Casper are part of Anderson’s One Wauconda slate.
Knight and Trustee Linda Starkey were the village board’s liaisons to the Heroes of Freedom committee. On Tuesday, both said talks about the storyboards inexplicably broke down last year.
Emails sent to members of the committee weren’t returned, and attempts to meet were fruitless, Knight said.
When asked about the lack of communication, committee co-chairman Kirk Morris said the group’s business with the village regarding the storyboards concluded last winter.
“No further meetings or work was required,” he said.
Knight said the subjects of the displays had been agreed upon, but not the wording. The proposed subjects were: the elements of the memorial; the time frame of Sept. 11; the events leading up to the attack; and how the world has changed since the attacks.
Knight also noted the memorial needs repairs.
Morris said he will reach out to Knight and Starkey to address their concerns.
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