By Brooklynn Wong
Buena Park will soon be getting a new Fallen Officer Memorial.
The current one, between City Hall and the Police Department, is only ten years old, but according to a presentation by Purchasing Manager Mark Averell at the April 23 City Council Meeting, that one requires extensive maintenance, and a better option is to simply build a new one.
The ongoing maintenance issues with the current memorial have been costing the city between three and five thousand dollars per year.
Though Councilman Connor Traut perhaps echoed the sentiments of some when he said he wishes there were a cheaper option, and that the current memorial is still relatively new and the upkeep expenditures do not seem unreasonable, Council has agreed to fund the new project, allocating $200,000 from the general fund reserves.
This is $11,000 more than the city spent on the previous memorial in 2009, at $189,000.
At the meeting that evening, Averell proposed authorizing the $200,000 as well as making a professional services agreement with Brodin Studios Inc. to design and construct the piece, and with Rabben/Herman Design Office for professional design services.
Brodin Studios has experience constructing many law enforcement memorials, and is the studio that was chosen out of the four the city contacted.
The proposed memorial will be a bronze statue depicting law enforcement personnel and a child holding a folded American flag.
As part of the design process, city staff had two officers and a child model how the figures will look.
Other features will include flower holders where people can set flowers they bring to pay tribute, and blue checkerboard lights the will be illuminated at night.
At the meeting, Mayor Art Brown proposed letting private citizens and organizations donate to or sponsor the project, perhaps with the purchasing of personalized bricks as is seen at many other memorials.
The rest of the Council expressed support for this idea, and the motion to authorize the $200,000 expenditure and enter into an agreement with the two design firms—with the option to explore letting citizens and organizations sponsor the project—passed unanimously.
