Veteran’s Memorial Park Moving Along

Initiatives for the Veteran’s Memorial Park in White Plains are moving forward after more than a decade. The City is hoping to be awarded a $400,000 grant from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to create an educational park honoring veterans and city residents who lost their lives in every U.S. war. 

“The mayor would really like to see this happen and is pushing to move this forward,” said Karen Pasquale, senior advisor to White Plains Mayor Tom Roach.

In 1997, the White Plains Common Council dedicated a 1.41-acre parcel—along Tarrytown Road, bounded by Chatterton Avenue, Robertson Avenue and Hunt Place—as parkland for a Veteran’s Memorial Park. Since then, city officials and community members—including Councilwoman Milagros Lecuona and members of the veteran community—have discussed the idea, but never made any major steps to proceed with the plans until the council unanimously approved the execution of the grant application at its Oct. 26 special meeting.

Pasquale said that even if the City does not receive the grant, which would require the City to match $100,000 or 25 percent, Roach would still like to see the park become a reality while he is mayor.

“Those of us in the veteran community are so happy that it’s finally coming to the table before we all pass away,” said Wayne McGrath, the mayor’s liaison officer to the City’s Memorial and Veterans Day ceremonies.

McGrath, a retired Marine Corps colonel who has been involved in the park’s planning for more than a decade, said the community would engage in fundraising for the park.

He would like to see various organizations or corporations, especially those who may have local historical links, sponsor the park’s monuments. Alexander Hamilton was one of the founders of BNY (Bank of New York) Mellon and also fought in the Battle of White Plains. A monument would be dedicated to each U.S. conflict. Another possibility for fundraising includes having families of veterans sponsor bricks with a veteran’s name on it.

Jack Harrington, a veteran who sat on the City’s conservation board for 12 years and has been involved in the park’s planning, says the park would include benches where students can get a lesson in history.

“It will be a place where people can just kind of mediate a little about how important, not only those wars were, but the people who served and dedicated their lives to it,” said Harrington.

“Things appear to be much more optimistic for a park then they have been in a long time. I think Mr. Roach and others on the common council have been very supportive and have helped considerably in trying to push this along.”

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