Shade structure planned for Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Wall
A proposed shade structure for Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Wall would block the sun in the day and have light displays at night
- Jacksonville plans to build a shaded structure at the Veterans Memorial Wall and a Veterans and Military Families Community Center.
- Funding for both projects will require a combination of public and private funds.
- The shade structure aims to enhance the memorial experience, while the community center will offer various services and activities for veterans.
In a city that more than 150,000 veterans call home, the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Wall is hallowed ground, but it’s location in a sea of asphalt parking lots also makes it an uncomfortably hot spot when the blazing sun beats down on its seating section.
Mayor Donna Deegan’s proposed 2025-26 budget will put $2 million toward construction of a permanent shade structure with built-in fans that also would light up at night in in designs paying tribute to the military.
The cost of building the structure at Veterans Memorial Wall will require several million dollars more to fully fund it. One avenue for closing the gap will be to seek private donations.
It’s the same situation financially for a planned Veterans and Military Families Community Center that would be built in downtown near Hogans Creek where outdoor activities — bicycling, kayaking and hiking — would be available along with indoor spaces in a two-story building.
The city still will need to round up several million dollars to pay for construction of that center.
Deegan has been talking about the community center since she heard veterans raise it as a need when she was campaigning in 2023.
The push for a covered shade structure is being driven in part by the cost of renting temporary tent structures for Memorial Day services at the wall. A permanent structure would avoid that $140,000 tent rental fee while making the venue a year-round gathering spot.
“Mayor Deegan is in full support of these projects, which are part of our efforts to be the most military and veteran friendly city in America and honor the brave men and woman who keep us safe,” city spokesman Phillip Perry said.
City Council members also have been supportive. If anything, the projects should be moving ahead faster, said council member Chris Miller.
“I know things sometimes in government don’t move quickly,” Miller said when he and fellow council member Will Lahnen met to get an update on the two projects. “However, I was hoping we’d move a little more quickly than we have so far.”
Memorial Wall shade structure would be next to stadium
The construction of a permanent shade location would further seal keeping the Veterans Memorial Wall where it is in the sports complex just outside EverBank Field.
The black granite monument is the second-largest in the country outside the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Beyond the financial cost of relocating the wall, repeat visit by family members have created an emotional bond to the current site, said Harrison Conyers, director of the city’s Military Affairs and Veterans Department.
The 65-foot long monument bears names for more than 1,700 Jacksonville-area service members dating back to World War I. The wall recognizes all seven branches of the military: Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Coast Guard and Merchant Marine.
A proposed design by the Haskell Company would carry over the tribute by using seven columns for supporting a “Circle of Reflection” shaped shade structure for protection from sun and rain. The cover would have a “perforated star pattern” that creates “dappled light and shade” for those sitting beneath it.
At night, the Circle of Reflection would light up by either using programmable mesh lighting or spotlights.
Haskell estimates the cost of building the structure with programmable lighting would be $6.8 million. If it were built with just LED lighting, the cost would be $5.7 million.
Miller won unanimous City Council support for earlier this year for putting $202,000 toward engineering and design. The $2 million in Deegan’s budget would be on top of that.
Conyers said the wall itself was founded with support so he thinks the community “as patriotic as it is” will step up in the same way for the shade structure.
The next step will be to make a request for proposals from firms to see how they would undertake the project and what the cost would be compared to the current estimates.
“We’re open to new ideas, but it will be an iconic space for our veterans and their families,” Conyers said.
Veterans center would seek to attract younger generation
The shade structure is farther along in the planning process than the proposed veterans center and would likely break ground first. The center would cost several million dollars and would need a mix of government and private support, Conyers said in his meeting with Lahnen and Miller.
“This would be the keystone project for us if we’re able to stand up the this community center and offer these services,” Conyers said.
He said he has talked to officials in Navy Region Southeast about getting a federal grant but the city first needs to have design documents in hand for the application.
Lahnen said he will file legislation putting $600,000 toward the project, which would cover design and planning. He has been working with the Deegan administration to shift unspent money on a project in Lahnen’s Southeast district that came in under budget.
The design will firm up an estimated cost for the center. The new two-story building would have space for veterans group meetings, social service providers, healthcare access, mental health counseling, job training, educational events and assistance in getting Veterans Service benefits.
The center also would have a cafe and a fitness center. The city has already picked out a spot in the Cathedral District of downtown near Hogans Creek where the city plans to build a segment of the Emerald Trail.
Conyers said the design of the center would enable activities that draw younger veterans who do not go as much as older veterans to traditional clubs and halls.
Lahnen said younger veterans are interested in doing outdoors activities and that would be possible though the Emerald Trail and Hogans Creek.
He said the city should create a focus group spanning different age groups “so we’re making sure we get something that fits as many needs across as many generations as possible.”