The city of Fort Collins will unveil today a new public plaza that will salute the nation’s military veterans.
Opening events at the Veterans Plaza of Northern Colorado, set on 3 acres at the entrance of Spring Canyon Community Park, 2626 W. Horsetooth Road, kick off at 10 a.m. with a street sign being dedicated to Fort Collins’ native son, Marine Sgt. Nick Walsh, who was killed by sniper fire in Fallujah, Iraq, on May 26, 2007.
The day’s events will include a flag-raising ceremony, music, food, military re-enactments, displays of restored vintage military vehicles and a flyover by F-16 fighter jets, according to a media release from Maj. Diggs Brown of the Colorado Army National Guard. Brown, a Special Forces soldier, is an Afghanistan veteran and former Fort Collins City Council member.
Permanent exhibits of the $1 million plaza will include a paved path leading past two touchscreen interactive computer animated walls. One wall will scroll the names of veterans; the other wall will display information on, and for, veterans, including services and history.
The plaza will display a bronze statue by artist Susan Raymond depicting a World War II soldier with a young boy seated on his shoulder. Kieran Nicholson, The Denver Post
