At what cost?

VOTE: Which design do you like best?

Keenly aware of tight budgets in these challenging economic times, the Town Veterans Recognition Committee is considering a less expensive war monument for the Wine Street Memorial Park.

But the man who submitted the winning entry says it’s too soon to rule out his design before any attempt is made to fund its construction.

At its latest meeting Wednesday, the Veterans Recognition Committee discussed fundraising strategies for construction of the winning design by Culpeper County resident Tad Butler, a freelance cartoonist and illustrator based in Boston, Va.

His design, approved by Town Council earlier this month and selected from five others by the committee in November, depicts a World II and Korean War-era soldier, sailor and airman.
The statue would be built in bronze, anchoring the brick pinwheel feature already in place at the park on Old Brandy Road and Wine Street.

Though he too endorsed the design, Veterans Recognition Committee Chairman Keith Price is hesitant to commit to the supposed $350,000 to $400,000 price tag for its implementation.

William McIntosh, director of the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, recently provided the aforementioned estimate to Price, who visited the national memorial in December.

In a follow-up conservation with the Star-Exponent, McIntosh confirmed the projected cost, based on images of Butler’s design. To prevent the figures from appearing “dwarfed,” they would need to be constructed larger than life, he said.

Price began considering other options when McIntosh, who helped oversee implementation of the D-Day Memorial, said each bronze figure would cost about $150,000 to create.

“As you can imagine, the unofficial cost estimate … for the monument requires us to closely examine how best to get where we want to be,” he wrote in an e-mail Friday.

Price said he plans to appear before Town Council Feb. 10 to “suggest some ways for moving forward.” He also planned to meet with Butler beforehand.

Alternate design idea
The Veterans Committee, whose membership consists mostly of veterans, is now considering a less expensive monument design by Jim Brothers, a Kansas sculptor suggested by McIntosh.

Brothers is responsible for many of the bronze figures in Bedford.

His statue “Homage” depicts a single soldier, his head tilted down, helmet swinging from a rifle, bayonet stuck in the ground. According to Price, it would cost $85,000 to build.

At its meeting Dec. 17, the Veterans Recognition Committees officially shifted gears, recommending to Town Council that the monument incorporate the base of Butler’s design, but be topped with “Homage.”

Committee member John Garr opposed the move, saying those funding the monument should decide which monument is ultimately selected.

Butler, in a phone message earlier this month, said many folks in the community have encouraged him “to fight for” his three-figured design. He said they have asked him to “appeal” to the committee to hold off on changing the design before fundraising efforts commence.

“I really believe they are giving up without even trying,” said Butler, who appeared at the Jan. 13 Town Council meeting to receive a plaque for being chosen the winning monument designer.

“I hope they will consider these men all died,” he added of Culpeper’s World War II and Korean War veterans, for which the park was built last year.

“They gave their lives, paid the ultimate price for us. So to balk at the cost before we make any attempt to raise the money is kind of premature.”

Three local men made the ultimate sacrifice in the Korean War, while 41 Culpeper men died in World War II.

Want to go?
The Veterans Recognition Committee holds its next meeting Feb. 17 at 5 p.m. in Town Hall.