.jpg)
In an attempt to assuage public concern about the potential installation of a memorial in Jordans Point Park, Lexington City Attorney Jeremy Carroll last week clarified that Council’s vote at its April 20 meeting approved the monument “in concept” but that the city had not conveyed any property for the monument.
He added that there are procedures that the city would need to go through in order to convey property to a third party, which would include public hearings and opportunities for public input.
“There’s been, it seems, some belief that we’re at the end of that process, but we’re really at the very beginning,” he said during his report at Council’s meeting last week. During the citizens comments portion of last Thursday’s meeting, concerned citizens addressed Council about the Gold Star Me
Lexington’s new budget includes funds for various improvements. See page B10.
morial and the proposed location desired by Jared Keuhner, the Washington and Lee University junior heading the project.
Mike Gilmore, who lives on Edmonton Avenue, read a letter written by his wife Mary Ann, which he said he was “in full agreement with.” In the letter Gilmore called the memorial a “well-deserved honor for those who have died in the service of our nation,” adding that “the memorial has our whole-hearted support. The location does not.”
Jordans Point, she wrote, is “Lexington’s only accessible natural water feature and destination on the Maury River,” noting that the park is “only a few acres at best.”
“There have been more and more unnatural encroachments of man-made features and signage that interfere with the views and are deteriorating,” she wrote. “It seems everyone wants ownership for their project of this very precious and limited resource, unfortunately to the point of destroying its natural views.
“Places where land, water, and sky meet are often considered sacred places,” she concluded. “They point to stunning beauty not made by hand and freely given to all. I can understand why Ka’ena Point on the island of Oahu is considered sacred as a jumping off point from life to the hereafter. I can understand what inspired Mr. Keuhner [to choose the park as the location]. The problem is that the memorial will obscure that inspiration for the city of Lexington and our visitors.”
Margaret Kirkby, who lives on Overhill Drive, suggested that the city develop a set of criteria for monuments like the proposed Gold Star Memorial that could be used “on all memorial requests so that you don’t have to start from zero each time.”
She noted that the city has a zoning district for parks and open spaces that includes acceptable uses for those areas of the city and suggested that might serve as a starting point for creating such criteria. She also proposed some examples of criteria the city could use or consider, including what kinds of materials could be used for monuments, what the monument site would require, and what city entities or members of the public should be involved in whether or not a memorial should be installed somewhere in the city.
