Springboro to get long-awaited veterans memorial

The city has budgeted $185,000 toward construction of the memorial.

A veterans memorial to be opened on Memorial Day in Springboro will culminate more than two decades of efforts by Mayor John Agenbroad and other city leaders.

This year the city budgeted $185,000 toward construction of the memorial, to be built between the multi-use trail and southwest shore of the pond in Gardner Park in Springboro.

The memorial is one of several new ones around the Miami Valley.

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“I think its because of all the unrest in our country right now,” Agenbroad said, recalling how in his era soldiers served a single tour of duty, unlike currently, when soldiers often return to active duty multiple times.

“These kids they are doing four, five, six tours,” Agenbroad said.

Springboro’s memorial will feature walks, walls and trees around a central memorial plaza fashioned from stone, including imported granite.

Agenbroad, a veteran of the U.S. Marines who served in Vietnam and was awarded a Purple Heart, said the idea for the memorial dated back to 1994 when he and Eddie Lawson Jr. were on Springboro City Council.

“Someday we wanted to have a memorial in Springboro,” Agenbroad said last week. “It’ll be a nice place to go.”

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The city looked at locating the memorial in North Park, but officials were unable to identify a good location, City Manager Christine Thompson said.

When 16 acres was set aside for green space in the Village Park development, the city created Gardner Park.

The project began taking shape last year and was featured in a city newsletter. The design was funded with $9,100 donated in March 2016 by the Rotary Club of Springboro.

In November, the city council approved a contract with Outdoor Enterprise, a construction firm based in Casstown, Ohio. The item was added to the meeting agenda the night of the meeting.

“The contractor needs lead time to order and receive the material as they are anticipating a price hike and also need the additional time for shipping,” according to minutes from the Nov. 3 meeting.

Among other local projects, Outdoor Enterprise completed a children’s garden and playground at the Children’s Medical Center of Dayton.

The contractor is helping to refine the final design of the memorial within the 16-acre park, off North Main Street, Ohio 741, and across from the street from the Settlers Walk planned community.

Last week, company officials indicated they expected to complete the project in time for the festivities on the Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend.

Agenbroad, who has headed the community’s Memorial Day Parade committee for years, said the local Kiwanis, Lions and Purple Heart groups had each committed $1,000 to the project to be unveiled over the holiday weekend. The Clearcreekers, a senior citizen group, has pleaded $300.

Thompson said the city was not seeking donations or planning to defray expenses by selling pavers laid within the memorial.

“We’re not seeking donations. We’re accepting donations that come forward,” Thompson said. “It’s our philosophy and policy not to solicit funding.”

Other corporate sponsors, including the Landing of Springboro, a new nursing home, have agreed to help fund the project, Thompson said.

People will also be able to buy memorial trees planted near the memorial.

“Springboro has come of age. One thing that was lacking was a veterans memorial,” Thompson said.

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