In a three-to-one vote, the Veteran’s Memorial Design Subcommittee approved a second concept for an expansion of the the Moore County Veteran’s Memorial in Carthage. Casting the dissenting vote, during the Subcommittee’s Monday, February 25 meeting, was Ruby Hendricks, a member of the original Veteran's Memorial Committee.
The Design Subcommittee had earlier approved a design prepared by Southern Pines-based landscape architect Vince Zucchino. Both that design and the newly-approved design will be presented to the Veteran's Memorial Advisory Committee, a group created by the Moore County Board of Commissioners in the wake of controversy surrounding an offer by Bojangles' Restaurants to purchase an acre of County-owned land near the Memorial.
The second approved design was presented by County Planner Jeremy Rust and includes a number of features that were present in the Zucchino design, including restrooms, a kitchen, a dry goods storage area, a platform for presentations, amphitheater type seating, and a walking path around a “lawn of reflection.”
“We attempted to add as many of the elements from the [first] design in this footprint as possible,” said Rust.
A key difference in the two designs is size. Zucchino's design occupies the entire 3.5 acre county-owned parcel that lies between the Memorial and an existing Hardee's restaurant at the corner of NC Highway 24-27 and NC Highway 15-501. Rust's design has a much smaller footprint, leaving 2.5 acres available for potential commercial development.
“If I voted in favor of this plan I would not be true to myself,” said Hendricks, who has been a strong proponent of Zucchino's design.
“I just think we owe an awful lot to our Veterans,” said Hendricks. “I don’t want us to lose site of that.”
Hendricks expressed concern over parking, if the Carriage Oaks land adjacent to the Memorial is commercially developed, explaining that many of the veterans' events held at the Memorial take place on the weekends.
Moore County Planning Board Chairman Robert Hayter, who is a voting member of the Subcommittee, said the Memorial was initially placed in a bad location, so issues such as a parking shortage will inevitably arise.
“Given good planning, it [the Memorial] would have never been put there,” said Hayter.
In addition to Hayter, Design Subcommittee members Raymond Doby, chairman of the original Moore County Veteran’s Memorial Committee, and Department of Social Services Director John Benton voted in favor of Rust's design.
A date has not been set to present the two designs to the full Veteran’s Memorial Advisory Committee.
