Plans for Central’s veterans’ memorial have continued to progress as a design has officially been selected.

The memorial is going to be a wall that will feature stories of combat and letters written by soldiers who have served since 9/11.

“[You’ll] get some real tears in your eyes when you read the stories,” said Rene Mahnke, vice president of student life and facilities.

The back side of the memorial wall will display the names of soldiers.

In order to have the memorial emotionally touch people, Hauke Harfst, vice president of academic affairs, and Mahnke hope to acquire stories from the families of local veterans.

According to Harfst, the memorial will be about 40 feet from one side to the other.

Gregg Schlanger, chair of the art department, is the official artist of the memorial.

The design came from a previous competition Schlanger entered in Spokane.

Schlanger’s design was not chosen for the original competition he submitted it to, but when he presented it to Central’s Veterans Task Force Committee, it was an instant hit.  

“Using the design ended up probably saving us a year or two years in the making,” Mahnke said. “Hiring an artist, creating a design, validating names, validating stories, all that kind of stuff. This is a jump in the future really; it’s going to really accelerate this project.”

Schlanger is not charging an artist fee, and he hopes to use student interns in helping with the process, Mahnke said.

It’s currently unknown how much the memorial will cost and the largest determining factor of that cost will be location.

“We want McConnell hall really badly,” Harfst said.

The Veterans Task Force Committee strongly prefers this location because it would provide the most visibility for both Central students and the community.

The committee is currently awaiting approval from the Enterprise Facilities Committee.

One hiccup this location may face is the oak tree planted in front of McConnell. The tree was planted by the class of 1901, so it can’t be cut down.

There has been a lot of student support for this project that has helped move things along. As of right now, the next step is getting the location set in stone.