Donation of Veterans’ Memorial Changes Landscape at Sugar Land Memorial Park (City of Sugar Land News Release)
Posted: October 9th, 2013
Sugar Land, TX - A new memorial honoring local veterans was unveiled at Sugar Land Memorial Park on Sept. 30.
The Tilt-Up Concrete Association (TCA) donated the memorial through the Sugar Land Legacy Foundation, a group established in 2010 to promote community investment in facilities and activities that enhance the long-term prosperity and quality of life for Sugar Land residents.
The value of the donation exceeds hundreds of thousands of dollars and reflects a memorial concept for the park that was identified by a citizen task force and the City’s Parks and Recreation Department in 2008.
The memorial features an obelisk recognizing the branches of the military. After walking through a symbolic entryway and crossing a bridge to a peninsula, visitors are able to walk within the obelisk and experience rays of sunlight reflecting through a vertical opening. The names of Sugar Land soldiers who have died while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces will be added to the monument in time for next year’s Memorial Day Celebration.
Jeffrey Brown, of Powers Brown Architecture and a TCA board member, offered his company’s services to design the memorial and held an internal design competition to select the final concept as part of the group’s annual convention that was recently held in Sugar Land. E.E. Reed Construction volunteered to build the memorial.
“Our vision is to give others the opportunity to leave a legacy in their community, and we are very proud to have been a part of such an important project,” said Sugar Land Legacy Foundation President Gene Reed, who is also the owner of E.E. Reed Construction, L.P. and a member of the TCA.
More than 10 companies donated their time, talent and services to the memorial project, including Powers Brown Architecture; E.E. Reed Construction, L.P.; Pinnacle Structural Engineers; TAS Commercial Concrete; Big 4 Erectors, L.P.; CEMEX; CMC Construction Services; CMC Rebar; WhiteCap Construction Supply; Nox-Crete Products Group; Meadow Burke; General Technologies; Ward Getz Associates; Gorrondona & Associates; Performance Electric; Trinity Expanded Shale & Clay; Houston Sawing and Drilling, and Nawkaw Corporation. The final value of their donations totals in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The TCA’s Community Project Program encourages collaboration between its membership and cities hosting its annual convention.
“We are so proud of this park, and we are grateful to have such a beautiful space in our community to honor our veterans and recognize the sacrifices they have made so we can be free,” said Mayor James A. Thompson.
Pictured (L-R) during a ribbon cutting ceremony are State Representative Rick Miller, Sugar Land Councilmember Himesh Gandhi, Sugar Land City Manager Allen Bogard, Sugar Land Councilmember Harish Jajoo, Legacy Foundation President Gene Reed, Sugar Land Councilmember Joe Zimmerman, Sugar Land Mayor James Thompson, Sugar Land Councilmember Amy Mitchell, Legacy Foundation Board member John Null, Legacy Foundation Board member Bill Jameson, lead designer Matt Stephens, State Representative Ron Reynolds, TCA Board member Jeffrey Brown and Sugar Land Director of Parks and Recreation Jim Browne.
About the Sugar Land Legacy Foundation
The
Sugar Land Legacy Foundation was established by the City of Sugar Land
in 2010 to promote community investment in facilities and activities
that enhance the long-term prosperity and quality of life of Sugar Land
residents. For more information about the Legacy Foundation, visit
www.sugarlandlegacy.org, call 281-980-8981 or email
info@sugarlandlegacy.org.
About the TCA
TCA
was founded in 1986 to improve the quality and acceptance of site-cast
tilt-up construction, a construction method in which concrete wall
panels are cast on-site and tilted into place. Tilt-up construction is
one of the fastest growing industries, combining the advantages of
reasonable cost with low maintenance, durability, speed of construction
and minimal capital investment. For more information about the TCA,
visit www.tilt-up.org or contact TCA headquarters at 319-895-6911 or
info@tilt-up.org.