Brunswick American Legion Cmdr. Dave Watson salutes as Brunswick police present the colors at the veteran’s plaza ground breaking in August. Hannah LaClaire / The Times Record
BRUNSWICK — After years of work, Brunswick’s new Veterans Plaza will finally open on Veterans Day with a small private dedication ceremony.
The ceremony will begin at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday with two short videos about the history and meaning behind the plaza. The official dedication will kick off at 11 a.m. with remarks from Sen. Susan Collins and Sen. Angus King, military leaders, representatives from local veterans organizations at the town of Brunswick.
The dedication ceremony will be livestreamed online and will also be broadcast on Radio Midcoast WCME, according to a press release.
“Since the beginning, we had high hopes of sharing the official opening of the Plaza with a huge audience in attendance,” said David Watson, American Legion Post 20 Cmdr. and Brunswick town councilor.
“But, as the pandemic spread we knew adjustments to conform to state regulations had to be made,” he continued. “Ultimately, this recent COVID case increase forced this plan so we could keep the celebration program intact, and keep the dedication of this tribute on Veterans Day.”
While the ceremony will not be on-site, the Veterans Plaza will be officially and permanently open to the public starting at 7 a.m. Wednesday.
Construction started on the plaza in mid-August.
Designs for the Veterans Plaza, scheduled to open Wednesday. Hannah LaClaire/The Times Record
The plaza was initially slated to open last Veterans Day, but high prices and labor shortages in the construction field pushed the date back by a year.
Even without the delay, it is, according to organizers, “long overdue.”
The $500,000 veteran’s plaza is designed to honor all veterans who have served the United States, regardless of rank, branch, conflict or status.
The design includes 445 engraved granite blocks honoring specific veterans with their names, branch and dates of service or conflict fought in, but not their rank.
The new monument will incorporate the existing downtown monument, which has been turned 180 degrees, as well as a separately funded purple heart monument. Twelve sentinel posts surrounding the plaza will represent the 12 recognized major American conflicts spanning from the American Revolution through the Global War on Terror.
The monument will serve to “mark the history of this nation,” and leave a lasting mark to honor “the many generations that have sacrificed to bring us to this day,” Mark Rockwood, pastor of the Berean Baptist Church said during the invocation at the groundbreaking ceremony in August.
The plaza initially carried a roughly $250,000 price tag, which was raised to $320,000 last year due to changes in the construction market. Organizers admitted from the get-go that their fundraising goals were aggressive, but recently said they hope to raise $500,000 to help maintain the monument in perpetuity. Organizers said Monday that they have raised $517,166 in gifts, grants and pledges.
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