Northern Colorado veterans are getting a new monument in Fort Collins.
Officials have big plans for the three acre plot of land in West Fort Collins, including a soldier statue and a 500 seat amphitheatre. There are also sketches for a so-called victory garden that will include soils from international battlefields and U.S. military cemeteries.
Mayor Doug Hutchinson says an overwhelming response in private donations and foundation grant money made the first phase of this project possible.
“It was on the order of a few hundred thousand which again, a great reflection of a community that would put together not just the time and the thoughts, but to write a check as well for something like this,” he said.
The city donated the land and approved the Northern Colorado Veterans Plaza in June 2007. Officials right now are gathering a list of veterans in the area to include in the monument, which can be submitted at www.veteransplazanoco.org.