Omaha City officials say progress is being made on a new and improved memorial dedicated to those who served in the Korean and Vietnam wars.
Parks and Recreation Director Brook Bench says the old statue at Memorial Park, which was installed in 1976 and restored 20 years ago, was old and needed a lot of repairs. "Just wear and tear. We're actually replacing all of the granite, all of the names, everything that was on it. Everything will be re-done," says Bench.
The City received a $200,000 private donation to create the identical replica statue. "We're also re-doing the sidewalks in that circular area. We're going to be doing new gardens. We're really going to make that new statue a pretty special place," Bench says.
The new memorial will also be ADA accessible. "It will be now, so people will be able to go right up to it and see the names," Bench says.
He's hoping to have the project completed in time for the Memorial Park concert on June 29.