Lincoln in process of expanding downtown Veteran’s Memorial

LINCOLN – The town is in the process of forming an ad hoc committee to handle an expansion of the Veteran’s Memorial located in the downtown.

At 7 p.m. Monday, the Town Council will consider appointing Councilors Stephen Clay and John Weatherbee to the committee. The committee’s first official meeting will be held at 9 a.m. Friday, Nov. 21.

The purpose of the expansion is to update the names on the monument, which hasn’t been touched since it was put in place at least 20 years ago, according to Town Manager Glenn Aho.

There are a number of omissions on the monument – some that date back to World War II – and it doesn’t include residents who served in either of the two wars in Iraq, he said.

The original expansion included adding two granite stones to the memorial at a cost of roughly $20,000, but it later was determined that the concrete foundation of the monument also would need to be replaced, he said.

The actual design and cost of the monument expansion haven’t been determined, but Aho said Friday that it would be a “grand project.”

The project is likely to be funded mainly through local donations, Aho said. As a way to raise funds, people eventually will be able to purchase “In memory of” blocks to be placed at the base of the monument, although the cost has yet to be determined, he said.

The town has established a reserve account for the project in the amount of $2,000, and donations can be forwarded to the Lincoln Federal Credit Union, care of the Veteran’s Memorial Project.

For information, contact the town office at 794-3372.