Snellville Breaks Ground on Veterans Memorial

The Snellville Veterans Memorial committee broke ground Saturday (Aug. 31) for the new monument during the city's Star Spangled Labor Day celebration. 

Councilman Bobby Howard, Mayor Pro Tem Tom Witts and former Mayor Pro Tem Barbara Bender spoke at the event before the groundbreaking for the memorial, which will be a water fountain with a brick wall and an eternal flame at the corner of Oak Road and Main Street. They explained how the memorial had been in the making for the last two years and its importance to the city of Snellville. 

"We appreciate you coming out to support those who have served our country. They deserve it," said Bender, explaining that she has several family members currently in and who have retired from the service. "I know what their families go through, I know what they're doing when they put themselves in harm's way, and it's something that they do for the love of this country and for our freedom."

Witts, who spearheaded the project, told the inspiration behind the memorial. After moving to Snellville in 1992 with his wife, he explained seeing the eternal flame on top of a Vietnam veterans memorial at the old city hall on Main Street. 

"I was a Vietnam veteran, and I was touched by that," said Witts, who was in the Navy. 

During his invovlement in the Veterans of Foreign Wars as junior vice commander and senior vice commander of Post 4180 in the mid '90s, he would place a ceremonial flag at the old memorial every Memorial Day and Veterans Day. In 2005, when the new city hall was built off Oak Road, the memorial was brought over sans eternal flame.

"So in 2009 when I was elected to council, I wanted to relight the flame," he said. 

There were a few speed bumps along the way, including not enough votes from the council then, and having too much ground to gas the flame at the memorial's new location. They considered moving the old memorial to the corner of Oak Road and Main Street, just half a block away, but members of Snellville Junior Chamber of Commerce, who originally donated the memorial, said they would not like it moved.

Talks for a new memorial then started. Having already teamed up with Bender on the project, Witts then spoke with former Councilman Chad Smith of CAS Architecture, who completed the rendering pro-bono. Bob McCann, a West Point graduate and engineering specialist with Haines Gipson Engineering then tagged along to provide his civil engineering skills for free, too. Lastly, Tommy Hill, an army combat veteran and water feature specialist with Serenity Ponds, joined for the fountain aspect of the memorial. 

The Veteran's Memorial is funded solely through donations and the sale of inscribed bricks and brick pavers. While $50,000 has been raised so far, the committee is looking to raise $20,000 more to construct the water feature the way they have it designed. 

Bricks will be on sale through Oct. 1 and can be purchased through snellvilleveteransmemorial.org. The memorial is set to be ready by this Veteran's Day on Nov. 11.