COUNTY HEARS OPINIONS ON WAR MEMORIAL; VETERANS DIVIDED OVER PLAN TO MOVE PARK MONUMENT

JACKSON, Mo. -- Veterans are divided over a plan to move the Cape Girardeau County War Memorial to make room for a nature center in Cape County Park North.

Some 30 veterans representing a number of veterans groups in Cape Girardeau and Jackson attended a meeting at the Cape Girardeau County Administrative Building in Jackson Wednesday to voice their views to the County Commission, project architects and the Missouri Department of Conservation.

County commissioners said no final decision has been made on whether to move the memorial. The commission is looking at appointing a committee of veterans to work with the project architects to develop an acceptable plan.

The Conservation Department plans to build a nature center in Cape County Park North. The project could go out for bids in January. Construction could take 18 months.

Project architects have proposed building the nature center near the current entrance to the park, close to the war memorial. The plan calls for closing the existing park entrance, moving the war memorial to a ridge west of the park's main lake, and building a new entrance road from Highway 61. The new road would be northeast of the entrance to Memorial Park Cemetery and west of the park's small lake.

Peckham and Wright Architects of Columbia is designing the $6.5 million project, which includes a nature center, hiking trails, a children's play area and parking.

Some veterans don't want the memorial moved.

Cape Girardeau resident Charles Woodford is a member of several veterans groups. He questioned why the nature center couldn't be built elsewhere on the park grounds, eliminating the need to move the war memorial.

"I feel like you are hijacking something from us," he said.

But project architect Erik Miller said his firm was offering "the best solution" in proposing to move the memorial.

Some veterans said they felt like the decision already had been made to move the memorial without any input from veterans' groups.

"This is a done deal already," said Jerry Stauber, commander of American Legion Post 63 in Cape Girardeau.

Stauber said he isn't opposed to moving the memorial. But Stauber suggested veterans should have been consulted at the beginning of the planning process. "I don't like the process," he told the architects.

Architect Brad Wright insisted that no final decision has been made regarding the memorial. "This is nothing more than lines on paper," he said. "We are not trying to hijack anybody."

Cape Girardeau County Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones said the commission will decide whether the memorial will be moved. Jones said that decision hasn't been made yet.

Jones has said the proposed location would increase visibility for the war memorial.

The presiding commissioner said after Wednesday's meeting that he was surprised there wasn't more opposition from veterans to moving the memorial.

The members of VFW Post 3838 in Cape Girardeau have voiced support for the plan to move the memorial.

Commissioner Max Stovall also believes the memorial should be moved. A veteran himself, Stovall said the memorial would be overshadowed by the nature center and lose its identity if it remains where it is.

The Cape Girardeau County War Memorial, dedicated in 1982, is a textured concrete octagon 4 feet high and 32 feet across. In the center is an 85-foot-tall flag pole bearing the American flag.

Veterans groups and other civic organizations paid for the memorial. Also in the area is a monument to Pfc. Richard Wilson, a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient from Cape Girardeau, and a police memorial from the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 33.

Veteran Burt Lehman of American Legion Post 63 in Cape Girardeau said it appears the memorial will be moved. If that occurs, plans need to be made for improved parking and access to the new site, he said.

Lehman said the war memorial is important to veterans. "It is hallowed ground. It is a place of honor."

If the war memorial is to be moved, it should be done so it doesn't disrupt veterans' holiday observances at the memorial, Lehman said.

Veteran Robert Wilhite serves on the county park board. He supports the proposal to move the memorial.

Wilhite suggested the new location could allow for the display of a field of flags in conjunction with the memorial.

Former Jackson mayor Carlton Meyer, a member of American Legion Post 158 in Jackson, said the proposed relocation site for the memorial won't be as picturesque as the current site.

"I hate to lose the monument," he said. Meyer suggested the project architects need to pay more attention to the memorial in their plans.

But veteran Bud Hager of the Cape Girardeau VFW post welcomed the architects' proposal.

"I want to see it go as it is, and I think that is progress," he said.