First Statewide Veterans Memorial To Be Built Outside State Armory in Hartford

HARTFORD – Despite having no architect and no final design, state officials said Tuesday that they will break ground this fall on the long-delayed statewide memorial that will honor all veterans from Connecticut.

The plan, which has been in the works for years, now calls for building the memorial at Minuteman Park – directly across the street from the state armory in Hartford. The site is key because numerous soldiers have been deployed from the armory to Iraq, Afghanistan, and other overseas assignments.

Officials raised about $250,000 during the tenure of Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell, and now the plan is moving forward under Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. Veterans commissioner Linda Schwartz, who has been serving in her position for the past 10 years under governors from both parties, has been envisioning the project since 2005.

Malloy, Schwartz, veterans, and state legislators all gathered Tuesday at the Hartford park to make the announcement about the new memorial. While the state is already shooting for the unveiling on Memorial Day 2013, officials still do not know precisely where the memorial will be placed outside the armory and the Legislative Office Building.

For years, the state hoped to build the memorial across from the State Veterans’ Home in Rocky Hill, but those plans have fallen through.

“The idea that here we are in 2012 without an actual state memorial to veterans is a mistake – and a mistake that is now in the process of being rectified,’’ Malloy told the assembled crowd Tuesday. “Now, that doesn’t mean that many of our municipalities don’t have their own monuments to veterans or veterans of specific conflicts. But now is the time for us to move forward as rapidly as we can to develop our state memorial.’’

“The idea that this has lanquished as long as it did and was perhaps kicked around [in] some other possible locations is too bad, but actually it presents this unique opportunity to get it right and to get it in the right place. And that’s what this area is,’’ Malloy said. “I can’t think of a better location than here in Minuteman Park.’’

Saying Connecticut has veterans dating back to 1775, Malloy said that 1.3 million soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines have served the country from Connecticut.

“God has been good to Connecticut,’’ Malloy said. “He has blessed it in many ways, but no more importantly than giving us the sons and daughters who served in the military to make sure that our freedoms were safe. God bless you all.’’

Officials have already created the Connecticut State Veterans Memorial, Inc., which is a non-profit volunteer organization that is overseeing the funding, design, and construction of the memorial.

The state has set aside $500,000 in bond funds, plus $250,000 in private donations. Officials believe that $750,000 will be sufficient, but contributions are still being accepted through a web site that has been established at www.cthonorsvets.org The private money was raised during the Rell years.

“In all fairness, this is something she conceived,’’ Schwartz said of Rell.

“Many of the veterans were disappointed that it wasn’t here in the capital, and that was a message that we heard over and over and over again,’’ Schwartz said in an interview. “Everybody was saying ‘try to get it here in Hartford.’ … The original concept and the conception of where it would be did not have the full support of the veteran community.’’

“Minuteman Park, in the shadow of our State Capitol building, is a very fitting place to honor the more than 1.3 million Connecticut citizens who have served our nation, in defense of peace and freedom,” Schwartz added in a statement. “Today, there are over 277,000 veterans living in Connecticut, but no central location where we can hold ceremonies on Memorial Day and Veterans Day to officially recognize and honor them and remember veterans who are no longer with us. In fact, over the years, many veterans groups and individual veterans have asked our State Department of Veterans Affairs why a memorial to honor veterans was not established on this site before.”