Group formally unveils veterans memorial park plans

A team of volunteers formally unveiled their plans to turn a grassy stretch at San Marco Plaza into a veterans memorial park, complete with a liquid fireworks display, during a special ceremony there May 21.

"This is worth its weight in gold for the many veterans we have (in our area)," Sarasota City Commissioner Suzanne Atwell said. "This is a wonderful opportunity."

Committee members Bob Moffa, David Neff, Dale Hyland, Dick Allen, Bill Wallace and executive secretary Pam Rice, were eager to show off plans for the San Marco Plaza Veterans Memorial Park, which include about 90 concrete standards for plaques honoring past, present and future veterans, as well as a liquid fireworks display in the pond behind the Country Pancake House & Restaurant.

Bob Moffa, founder of the American Ideals Foundation — the group facilitating the project — said the liquid fireworks display would serve as a living memorial to veterans and would inspire the area's youth, along with the rest of the project.

"You could not find a better place in Florida than this plaza (for the memorial park)," he said.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].