However, council members disagreed on the amount allocated to the project, arguing it needed to have a grander vision.
“Will this memorial be grand enough to be a real attraction for veterans to come from all over the state to look at it and visit here?” Council Member Jim Pollard said during the meeting.
The city of Shenandoah contracted Landology, a The Woodlands-based architecture and urban design firm, to put together designs for a memorial at Vision Park, which would cost around $250,000 to construct.
“The Vision Park area is really expansive and has room to really do some incredible things,” said Pollard. “I noted from last month’s financial report that we have right at $5 million in [convention and visitors bureau] money that can be used to attract people here, and I think that would be a major thing for us, and we should spare no expense in designing it.”
Council Member Ted Fletcher also agreed, noting Landology presented a cost of $200,000 for new city signs to be designed and built.
“I don’t think $250,000 is going to cut it for what we would want to see for a memorial for our veterans,” Fletcher said.
Comparisons were drawn with the Montgomery County Veterans Memorial in Conroe, which sprawls along I-45. However, the council members said they were aware Vision Park would not reach the scale of the Conroe memorial and asked to be presented ideas that still utilized the space in an effective way.
“We have some physical limitations; we can’t make the park look like what Montgomery County did in Conroe, but I think you can open it up a little bit,” Council Member Michael McLeod said.
The council requested designers look at potentially timing the grand opening of the memorial for a national holiday, such as Memorial Day or Veterans Day.
