CAPTION: One of the 568 memorial stones on the Victory Memorial Drive. Photo by Donna Seline.
The Victory Memorial Drive Task Force, the group working to renovate and preserve the Minneapolis World War I Memorial, will receive $1.7 million as part of the state bonding bill recently passed by the Minnesota Legislature and signed by Governor Pawlenty.
The funds will be used to complete a $6.7 million renovation project for the Twin Cities' largest war memorial and what is believed to be the largest World War I memorial in the nation. The Drive commemorates the 568 soldiers and nurses from Hennepin County who perished in World War I.
The project was launched in 2007 with a $3.5 million appropriation by Hennepin County; the State of Minnesota has now contributed a total of $2.7 million; the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, which owns the parkway, has programmed $290,000; federal grants were awarded for an additional $200,000; and a Legacy Amendment grant awarded $40,000.
This year's $1.7 million state appropriation will fund a complete reconstruction of the Drive's flagpole plaza (near 45th and Xerxes Aves.), including a new plaza layout, plantings and trees, irrigation, lighting, benches, flagpole, engraved flagpole base, granite walls and an innovative Armistice Day feature.
Construction is slated to begin in May, along with the installation of 64 replacement street lights and 112 new walking path lights, landmark gateways at Humboldt and Lowry Avenues, and a revitalization of the nearby Grand Army of the Republic Circle.
The Task Force was created in 2006 by the Minnesota Legislature to renovate and preserve the Drive. Work completed in last year's phase included realigning the Drive's historic street grid and expanding its green space.