This…
Photo courtesy of Michael Lamb, Historic Landscape Architect, Presidio Trust
Will soon look like this…
Artist’s rendering of Memorial design by Art Zendarski shows memorial wall, tree, and circular bench.
Progress on the construction of the Memorial is becoming increasingly visible and more striking every day, as you can see from the construction photographs that follow. The initial landscaping, irrigation system, and electrical and lighting features have now been completed, and concrete has now been poured for nearly all of the major structural elements. This includes the main curved Memorial wall, which will ultimately be sheathed in black granite panels inscribed with iconic images from the Korean War. These panels are now being fabricated at the Coldspring Company in Minnesota, and will soon be shipped to the Presidio for installation on the wall. Here is one of the laser-etched panels in Minnesota, awaiting shipment:
Major General O.P. Smith, CG, 1st Marine Division,
among the graves of the fallen, Hungnam, Korea, December, 1950
All this progress is due to the creative plan conceived by the talented Presidio Trust design team, and the supervision and execution of that plan by the Plant Construction Company management team and their capable crew.
Presidio Trust Design Team:
Genevieve Bantle, Paul Scardina, and Michael Lamb
Plant Construction Company Management Team:
Marty Shoemaker, Mitch Magoshi, and Rick Flaster
Construction Manager Mitch Magoshi
The Plant Construction Company team is enthusiastic about the project. As Construction Manager Mitch Magoshi put it, “We know how meaningful this Memorial is for the veterans and their families, and it’s meaningful for all of us who are building it, too. It’s a challenging project for me and my colleagues due to the complex design and high level of detail. This keeps things interesting!”
All elements of the project are on or ahead of schedule, and will be completed prior to the Opening Ceremony on August 1. One of the final steps will be the construction of the Donor Wall of inscribed tiles and bronze plaques, on the outer perimeter of the Memorial site along Lincoln Boulevard.
May 6: Building the wooden forms in preparation for pouring the concrete
May 11: Concrete is pumped high over the site and down into the main Memorial wall form.
May 6: Putting the last of the wooden form on the main Memorial wall. (In the background is the Monterey cypress tree in memory of Corporal Santiago “Jimmy” Rosas: see story on pages 6 & 7.)
May 11: The crew directs the concrete into the wall form.
May 19: The wooden forms now removed, the concrete cures and grows stronger in the sun. Once the wall has reached its full strength, the inscribed black granite panels will be secured in place on the concave front surface.