MADISON, S.D. (KELO) — Veterans Honor Park in Madison has been in the works for the last few years, and some of it is complete, but it has a long way to go.
The committee met Sunday to discuss future plans for the project.
“We wanted to honor any military person that has worn the uniform — past, present, future; and it’s overtime, past time that we should have this for the WWII, Korea, Vietnam vets,” Post 25 American Legion Commander Dan Fritz said.
The park has been a work in progress since 2019, but challenges including flooding, road construction, COVID, and the latest, supply chain issues have caused delays.
“We’ve put in the first honor path, the footings and the walls, and now we’re waiting for the actual granite to be delivered with our veterans’ names on it. We have 414 veterans on that honor path. We have 79 spots left on the second honor path, which we have the footings in for them but haven’t built the actual wall structure for,” committee chairman Danny Frisby-Griffen said.
Frisby-Griffen says they hope to put in the flag poles in the coming weeks when they plan to have a flag burning ceremony for old American flags. A dropbox will be placed at the memorial when it is complete for people to drop off such flags.
As for the completion of the park, that is to be determined.
“Once we have an idea that the granite is in the state and being worked on, we’ll be able to put in the rest of the concrete that will be required for those larger pieces of our park,” Frisby-Griffen said.
He is hopeful they can get a majority of the construction done this fall.
“We’ve had a lot of folks that have donated to the property and donated to the concept and idea of honoring our veterans,” Frisby-Griffen said. “Seeing it come to fruition will be, in fact just talking about it right now gives me goosebumps. It also reflects well in our community that we want it to be a showcase that when people drive in on Washington {Avenue}, they recognize that our community cares. Our community cares about our veterans. They care about our families.”
“It’s long overdue. It’s a way to honor the veterans. And it’s a way to get the community involved. They’re just appreciative of the veterans and what they’ve done to preserve our freedoms in the United States,” Fritz said.
If you would like to donate to the project, you can find a form on the Veterans Honor Park Facebook page.
