Aurora, Illinois

File #: 15-00342    Version: 1 Name:
Type: Resolution Status: Passed
File created: 4/20/2015 In control: City Council
On agenda: 5/26/2015 Final action: 5/26/2015
Title: A Resolution Authorizing Application for Grand Victoria Riverboat Funds for Construction of an Aurora Veterans Memorial at Phillips Park, and Execution of All Necessary Documents.
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TO: Mayor Thomas J. Weisner

FROM: John Russell, grant writer

DATE: April 21, 2015

SUBJECT:
Requesting approval to apply for a Grand Victoria Riverboat Fund grant for the creation of an Aurora Veterans Memorial at Phillips Park. The Aurora Veterans Advisory Council is planning the new Veterans Memorial

PURPOSE:
The new Aurora Veterans Memorial will join the two existing war Memorials at the Sunken Garden at Phillips Park. The present monuments honor all Aurorans who were killed in action in World War II, and Army Air Force Lt. Walter E. Truemper, the only Auroran to receive the Medal of Honor. The new Memorial will honor all Aurorans who have sacrificed their lives for their country in the nation's conflicts since World War II -- in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan.


BACKGROUND:
The Aurora Veterans Advisory Council began working on plans for the new Veterans Memorial more than a year ago. Design plans already have been drawn up for the Memorial, which will stand about 13-feet high, with a 6-foot-diameter base. The Memorial will be made out of granite quarried and manufactured in the United States. The fallen Veterans names will be etched into the black granite, and emblems of all of the nation's military branches will be attached. Estimated cost of the Memorial project is $72,900. AVAC has raised $8,300 through fundraisers to support the Memorial project, and in March 2015 received approval for a $50,000 grant from the Dunham Fund for construction of the Memorial. AVAC is seeking a $14,600 Grand Victoria Riverboat Fund grant, which would bring the total revenue to $72,900.

DISCUSSION:
AVAC has created an account through the Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley for the Veterans Memorial project. All money - grants, donations, other funding - is submitted to the AVAC account through the Community Foundation. No money can be withdrawn from the account at the Community Foundation without the signatures of two of AVAC's three of...

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