page_title: Town of Tonawanda Veterans Memorial
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Town of Tonawanda Veterans Memorial / History / Background
caption_attribution_description: English: Groundbreaking for the Town of Tonawanda Veterans Memorial
context_page_description: The Town of Tonawanda Veterans Memorial is a public memorial in the Town of Tonawanda, New York. It is located in Walter M. Kenney Field at the northwest corner of Brighton Road and Colvin Boulevard. The memorial stands to honor the service of all veterans of the United States Armed Forces.
  Initial construction of the memorial took roughly seven weeks and was completed in mid-August 2009. The memorial was formally dedicated on August 18, 2009 before a crowd of more than 1,500 people. Retired U.S. Army General and former U.S. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell delivered the keynote address. A crowd of several hundred people gathered one year later, on August 18, 2010, for a re-dedication ceremony to commemorate the completion of a major expansion effort necessitated by the popularity of the memorial among interested donors.
  The focal point of the memorial is a seven-foot-tall V-shaped monument of Paradiso granite, standing for Veterans. The monument was designed specifically for the memorial in 2007 by artist and Vietnam War veteran Ralph Sirianni.
context_section_description: The Town of Tonawanda Veterans Memorial project began in 2004 as a grassroots effort to establish a permanent site in the town for residents to gather and pay tribute to their relatives, friends, and fellow Americans who have served or currently serve in the U.S. Military. In 2007, the Town of Tonawanda Veterans Memorial Steering Committee was established to see the project through to completion.
   To fund construction, the memorial steering committee solicited private donations from town residents and business owners. For $100, a donor could have the name of a military veteran of their choice engraved on the memorial. Donors could also have a tree, park bench, or flag pole dedicated in honor of a veteran for $1,000, $2,000, or $3,000, respectively. Between 2007 and 2009, the committee raised over $100,000 in private donations and successfully applied for $47,500 in grant funding offered by the State of New York.
  By the spring of 2009, the committee had reached its funding goal to cover the cost of construction and the project was ready to be put out to bid. The Tonawanda Town Board agreed to designate space for the memorial at Walter M. Kenney Field and fully manage its construction. The project was put out to bid three times before an offer was returned within the range that the committee could afford. With a construction contractor confirmed and work set to begin, the memorial steering committee held a groundbreaking ceremony on May 22, 2009 at what was to be the future site of the memorial. Joining the steering committee that day were local military veterans and residents, as well as town and state officials.
caption: Groundbreaking ceremony held May 22, 2009.
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