HomeMy WebLinkAboutSept 11 - Veterans Fundraising Goal
City of Edina • 4801 W. 50th St. • Edina, MN 55424
Contact: Krystal Caron, Communications Coordinator
Phone 952-826-0347 • kcaron@EdinaMN.gov • www.EdinaMN.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Veterans Memorial Project Reaches Funding Goal
Edina, Minn., Sept. 4, 2014 – With funding secured, construction will begin on the Veterans Memorial.
Fundraising for the memorial, which will be located in Utley Park at the corner of Wooddale Avenue and 50th
Street, generated over $450,000.
The Edina Veterans Memorial will be a unifying symbol of shared community values in honoring all Edina
veterans of the nation’s armed forces – past, present and future. There are 32 native and adopted sons of Edina
who died in the time of war who will be individually remembered through this memorial.
In 2010, the memorial was budgeted to cost $450,000. Over the past three years, committee members were
busy visiting with donors and state government leaders. Those efforts resulted in the Veterans Memorial
Committee raising $196,380 in private cash donations, including a $100,000 contribution from Dave Frauenshuh
and his family and $20,000 from the Edina Rotary Foundation. In addition, the Edina City Council approved
$39,461 in City funds, the State of Minnesota issued a Legacy Fund grant in the amount of $9,900 available upon
completion of the project and the State Legislature issued a general matching grant in the amount of $225,000.
“Every resident should have received a letter from me. We received $62,000 just from that mailing, so people
really came out [and supported this initiative],” said Committee Chair Richard Olson at the Aug. 19 City
Council Meeting. “We [received donations ranging from $10,000 to $3], so we’ve gotten nice broad support for
this from that mailing.”
A groundbreaking ceremony will be held 9 a.m. Friday, Sept. 19 at the site of the memorial in Utley Park, 4521
W. 50th St. The Committee encourages the public -- especially veterans, donors and Edina residents -- to attend
the event. Construction of the memorial is expected to be completed by Memorial Day 2015.
The Committee is still collecting donations for ongoing maintenance of the memorial. To donate or for more
information, visit www.EdinaMN.gov/veteransmemorial or contact Recreation Supervisor Kristin Aarsvold, staff
liaison to the Committee, at 952-826-0433 or kaarsvold@EdinaMN.gov.
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