Grapevine - Colleyville - Southlake | December 2024

Government

BY CODY THORN

Southlake Mayor Shawn McCaskill announced that the city plans to break ground on a Veterans Memorial in 2025 during a Veterans Day ceremony Nov. 11. How it happened Four years ago, Milan Georgia, a Southlake resident and U.S. Army veteran, met McCaskill and former Mayor John Human for coee. McCaskill recalled that Georgia broached the subject of looking into a Veterans Memorial. “From that little meeting, it all happened organically. Now we are ready to push dirt and build something next year,” McCaskill said. “It is exciting.” McCaskill said the Veterans Memorial is a “top priority” and the time is right for the addition in Southlake, though a location and construction timeline have not been announced. What you need to know During a Feb. 20 work session, city sta announced the recruitment of community veter- ans to be on the Veteran Memorial Focus Group. The Southlake City Council approved 15 residents to the group in May, tasking them with gathering ideas for a future project. “Our rst meeting, my only idea or thought was to go big,” McCaskill said. “What you will see in the coming months is they will go big and they will go very big on our Veterans Memorial.” Southlake plans for new veterans memorial in 2025

Southlake Mayor Shawn McCaskill speaks during a Veterans Day event Nov. 11 in front of Southlake City Hall.

Retired Army Captain Milan Georgia was the guest speaker at the Veterans Day event Nov. 11 in Southlake.

PHOTOS BY CODY THORNCOMMUNITY IMPACT

recognized for their ongoing contributions.” What else? McCaskill said the focus members have asked about the cost, the size and the location. McCaskill said the city ocials told the group to just focus on what they would want in a memorial. Since the project is in the early development phase, funding is pending, Southlake Corporate Communications Manager Jamie Cooper said. Talley, who said her father was in the Air Force, said the focus group had expressed interest in having an education component to a memorial. “We don’t have details yet but we will have a lot of ideas,” McCaskill said. “We will hear early next year the recommendations.”

The details Robert Briggs, Southlake deputy director of economic development and tourism, has been leading the charge for the city and working with the focus group. Briggs, a veteran, meets with the group to review ideas and visions for the memorial’s design. Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Kathy Talley said the group had done tours of other Veterans Memorials in the Dallas-Fort Worth areas to gather ideas of what could be used in Southlake. “We want the community to remember the sacrices that were made for our freedoms,” Georgia said in a news release. “This memorial will be a place where veterans are not just honored but

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