CAMDENTON, Mo. — Camdenton elected officials are weighing the cost of the various options to etch a veterans memorial in stone.
In April 2015, Camdenton Mayor John McNabb appointed men and women to serve on a committee charged with designing a memorial to honor veterans. The memorial will be placed at the Camdenton Memorial Lake Regional Airport, southeast of town on Highway 7. The committee has been meeting since April to design a memorial and last month met with Atchison Monument of Clinton, Mo. to begin turning the design into reality. At Monday night’s meeting, August 3, committee members also met with a concrete expert, Steven Clark with Clark’s Concrete Construction Company, Camdenton, Mo.
CAMDENTON, Mo. — Officials are moving forward with a plan to honor veterans with a monument …
Atchison returned for Monday’s meeting and brought samples of granite that can be ordered for the memorial. Atchison also provided cost information for committee members to review as they looked at samples in natural light outside the airport terminal.
The committee learned that one polished plaque made from Missouri Red granite in a size suggested by design sketches would cost $5,436.00. The memorial, as designed, would require five plaques for a cost exceeding $25,000. A single American Black granite plaque, in the same size as the one made of Missouri Red, would add $1,107 to the cost for a five-plaque cost exceeding $32,500.
The size and thickness of each granite plaque has not been finalized so the cost per plaque may increase once the final dimensions have been set. Sandblasting design and wording onto those plaques is included in the cost, but other renderings such as laser lettering are added costs.
Three Atchison representatives and Steven Clark advised the committee to remember that concrete is not impervious to earth movements or storm damage. Furthermore, as Clark pointed out, concrete must be maintained for it to remain in the best condition. It must be cleaned and re-sealed at least every three years.
Granite, on the other hand, like diamonds, is a “forever stone,” according to an Atchison sales representative. A memorial of solid granite will increase the cost.
In the coming week, committee members will reflect upon the granite samples and prices they have been provided to date. They will meet again on August 10 in order to decide upon the materials best suited for the design and to further specify costs for the entire project. They hope to unveil the design on Friday, September 11, 2015 during events for veterans prior to the annual Air Show the following Saturday.
Committee member Keith Lucas studies the granite samples, his t-shirt proving why he agreed to serve on the committee: to honor those who wrote blank checks and those who will one day.
