PRICEVILLE, AL (WAFF) -
The fund raising effort to build the Morgan County Veterans Memorial Park in Priceville needs a boost. When organizers first talked about building the park in time for Veterans Day, they guessed it may take $300,000.
After getting the estimate from the architect, they realize they will need roughly double that amount.
Bob Stricklin, Commander of American Legion Post 15, said the cost for granite monuments to each service branch, the price for a bronze fallen soldier's statue, in addition to building two pavilions and handicapped accessible sidewalks and rest rooms, put the cost closer to $600,000.
He said the project needs business and individual donations. One of the ways they are raising money is by selling commemorative bricks to be placed at the park.
"You can put what you want on it. You can put a business on it, ‘In memory of veterans,' or just your name on it," Stricklin said.
They will also raise money during a fishing tournament at Ingalls Harbor on June 16th.
"If we get 50 boats, we're going to guarantee a thousand dollars," Stricklin said.
Senator Arthur Orr facilitated a $25,000 grant from the state, and the Town of Priceville matched that total. Priceville also donated the land off of Alabama Highway 67. The Morgan County Commission has donated labor and equipment that Priceville Councilman Tommy Perry said has saved about $100,000. Organizers said an anonymous business has pledged $75,000, but they still need around $400,000.
"We're going to build it. We just hoping a lot of the companies come through and help out. A lot of individuals too," Perry said. "We have 259 that died for our freedoms from World War I to the present. And without these soldiers, we wouldn't have the freedom to sit here and talk to you today."
"As a Vietnam veteran myself, it means a lot to me. To have a place to go that is a Veteran's Memorial Park," Stricklin said.
Click here for information about how to donate money, buy bricks, enter the fishing tournament, or to donate time working at the site.
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