SHAWANO, WI – Shawano County leaders are asking local veterans to help determine the future location of the county’s veterans memorial as planning continues for the new government center.
Kurt Berner of The Samuels Group told the Shawano County Public Property Committee that gathering feedback from those who have served is the most important step before deciding where the memorial should be relocated.
“I thought the best way to engage that is to get some feedback from the veterans,” Berner said. “I reached out to Zach from your veterans department and asked him to start talking to veterans.”
Berner said the goal is to ensure the memorial remains a place that appropriately honors veterans, regardless of where it is ultimately placed.
“I want the message to get out to the veterans that the decision of where we put that, we want to make sure that it’s bringing honor to them and that we can make this a positive decision,” he said.
Several potential locations have already been discussed. Berner said the memorial could remain near the courthouse and be incorporated into the site’s landscaping, while other ideas include placing it along the Wolf River to create a peaceful space for reflection or relocating it to another county park.
“If we want to put it right in front of the courthouse again, we can wrap that into some of the landscape,” Berner said. “There’s been some questions about putting it along the river so there’s an area for people to go there and meditate. Other parks have been brought up.”
Berner acknowledged that veterans have shared differing opinions about where the memorial should be located, but he hopes the county can identify the option that best reflects the wishes of the majority of the local veterans community.
“Not everybody will agree on something, but if we can get an idea of what a majority of them would like, then we can start to develop some imagery and represent where we may want to put that,” he said.
County officials say there is no immediate deadline for selecting a location, as relocating the memorial is expected to be one of the final phases of the government center project. In the meantime, the county will continue working with its Veterans Service Office and local veterans to gather input before any final decision is made.
Berner said conceptual renderings of possible locations will eventually be developed and shared with veterans to help guide the decision-making process, emphasizing that the county’s priority is finding a permanent location that appropriately honors those who have served.
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