This History is being shared to help our friends and donors understand the complexities of our experiences in pursuing a Vietnam War Memorial on the Oregon State Capitol Grounds.
When we started the project, we were confident that we would be finished within two years. Seven years later, we have evidence that proves that confidence was ill founded as we had no clue of what was to come.
Raising funds has also been a challenge. To date, we have raised over 2.78 million dollars with about $900,000 in additional anticipated revenue. The Phase 1 Budget is $3,639,929. Some of our anticipated funding is not guaranteed and may not materialize. As a result, we need your donation today to make sure Phase 1 is fully funded.
Please enjoy this History of our journey.
The Founding of the Vietnam War Memorial Fund
In 2015, the Committee on Memorials and Remembrance listed on its project list a Vietnam War Memorial on the Oregon State Capitol Grounds.
As other projects were moving towards completion, a letter was sent to a significant number of Legislators on July 25, 2017. This letter created enough interest to cause a meeting with Representative Paul Evans, the Chair of the House Committee on Veterans and Emergency Preparedness on August 15, 2017.
That afternoon, the Vietnam War Memorial Fund was founded.
IRS EIN was issued on August 15, 2017.
Vietnam War Memorial Fund was incorporated as an Oregon Non-Profit Corporation on August 24, 2017.
September 2, 2017, the Corporation Organizational Meeting was held.
Officers were elected: President Steve Bates, Secretary Jaycee Newman and Treasurer Steve Wiley
Application for IRS 501(c)3 status was submitted on September 11, 2017.
A Steering Committee was established and recruitment for members began.
The IRS issued a letter of 501(c)3 status dated January 10, 2018.
The VWMF Steering Committee
The first Steering Committee Meeting was held on January 12, 2018 at the State Capitol.
All subsequent Steering Committee Meetings were held at the Capitol Building so Legislators could attend.
The proposed location of the Vietnam War Memorial was the northeast corner of the State Capitol Park and twelve conceptual elements were established.
The Steering Committee met on the following dates in 2018 to review concepts and designs of the memorial elements: February 21, May 23, September 26, December 14.
A Landscape Architect, Mike Abbate of Abbate Designs LLC was engaged to start the process of Design Management of the Vietnam War Memorial on October 24, 2018.
At the December 14, 2018 meeting the Steering Committee established consensus on the concepts and design of twelve elements of the Vietnam War Memorial on the Oregon State Capitol Grounds. At this meeting, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department made a presentation suggesting that the southwest corner of the State Capital Park was a better fit for the Vietnam War Memorial. The Steering Committee voted to move the location to the southwest corner of the State Capital Park.
The Steering Committee met on January 30, 2019.
The Landscape Architect was assigned the task of presenting a Draft Memorial Design at the March 1, 2019 meeting.
Additional 2019 Steering Committee Meetings were held on April 4 and May 7.
On July 31, 2019, the Steering Committee convened and adopted the design for the Vietnam War Memorial on the Oregon State Capitol Grounds.
The Steering Committee met again on October 30, 2019 and January 22, 2020. This would be the last meeting of the Steering Committee as the Capitol Building was closed to the public because of COVID.
Application to the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
The Vietnam War Memorial Fund filed a Memorial Installation Application with Oregon Parks and Recreation Department on September 6, 2019. This would prove to be a long and arduous process. The first response from OPRD was dated May 15, 2020 asking questions regarding the content of the application. There was a follow up communication dated June 24, 2020 asking additional questions. A third communication dated August 24, 2020 advised that the VWMF must make application with the City of Salem Landmarks Commission. This also required meeting with the Salem Neighborhood Association in which the site was located. The City of Salem Historic Landmarks Commission held a Hearing on November 19, 2020 and approved the design of the Vietnam War Memorial on the Oregon State Capitol Grounds on November 20, 2020.
During the OPRD application process, VWMF was required to make multiple presentations to the Oregon Capital Planning Commission and the City of Salem Planning Roundtable. The Oregon Capital Planning Commission voted unanimously to accept and approve the design. The City of Salem Planning Roundtable presentations were informational only.
OPRD also performed a public outreach program concerning the proposed memorial and its design. This included a temporary website and OPRD hosted a virtual open house with representatives of the VWMF in attendance to answer any and all questions.
On February 25, 2021, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Commission approved the application for the Vietnam War Memorial on the Oregon State Capitol Grounds with a vote of 6 to 3.
A Memorandum of Understanding between Oregon Parks and Recreation Department and the Vietnam War Memorial Fund was developed and signed on May 25, 2021. This agreement described the necessary tasks for both parties.
State Historic Preservation Office Requirements for Memorial Site
The VWMF was required to have sub surface testing of the memorial site for artifacts.
A Research Services Contract was executed between The University of Oregon Museum of Natural & Cultural History and VWMF on August 4, 2021. Application was made to the State Historic Preservation Office for an Archaeological Permit and it was granted on August 16, 2021.
University of Oregon Museum of Natural & Cultural History personnel conducted sub surface testing on September 16th and 17th. They found no significant artifacts and produced a report which was submitted to the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). SHPO received and processed the report without notation, making the site available for construction. However, during the earth work of construction, a certified observer must be engaged and on site to assure the lack of significant artifacts.
Legislative Activity for the establishment of a Vietnam War Memorial on the Oregon state Capitol Grounds and Requests for Funding
It was identified at the 2017 meeting with Representative Evans that a state law needed to be passed to set aside the property for a Vietnam War Memorial on the Oregon State Capitol Grounds.
House Bill 2195 was introduced in the 2019 Legislative session. A request for lottery dollars was also filed. HB2195 had two Hearings in front of the House Veterans Committee but died in the Ways & Means Committee and the funding request was ignored.
In the 2020 legislative session, Senate Bill 1542 was introduced by the Senate Veterans Committee. This bill was passed by the Senate and sent to the House. Speaker Kotek failed to assign the bill to the House Veterans Committee before the committee deadline. The House Veterans Committee had scheduled an informational meeting which could have been turned into a Hearing and Work Session.
Speaker Kotek assigned the bill to the House Rules Committee instead. The House Rules had a Hearing and Work Session on SB1542 and passed the bill to the House Floor with a Do Pass recommendation. Unfortunately, the next day the Republicans walked out and effectively shut down the rest of the legislative session. The bill died on the House Floor waiting for its second reading.
The 2021 legislative session saw SB 1542 re-introduced as Senate Bill 319. SB319 passed the Senate and was assigned to the House Rules Committee by Speaker Kotek. The Rules Committee Chair would not schedule a Hearing for the bill. The Capitol was closed to the public, so it was difficult to find out what problems existed.
It was discovered that Representative Khanh Pham had stated an objection to the bill. Steve Bates lobbied Representative Pham by email asking for her to identify her problem so it could be addressed. There was no response from the representative, so one additional email was sent with no response as well. But, it was reported that Representative Pham removed her objection to the bill and a Hearing for SB319 was scheduled about ten days later. The Rules Committee passed SB319 to the House Floor with a Do Pass recommendation. The House passed SB319 and the Governor signed it into law on July 14, 2021.
A request was filed with the Capital Construction Sub-Committee requesting $400,000 funding for the Vietnam War Memorial project. This request was passed by the Ways and Means Committee and was issued to the Vietnam War Memorial Fund in November of 2021.
In 2023, a request for additional funding was filed with the Capital Construction Sub-Committee. The amount requested was $1,850,000. The Capital Construction Sub-Committee and the Ways and Means Committee awarded an allocation of $1,000,000 which was received by the VWMF in November of 2023.
Finding a shortfall in the budget for Phase 1 Construction of the Memorial, an additional request for $400,000 was filed in 2024. With the help of many legislators, the Capital Construction Sub-Committee and the Ways and Means Committee awarded an allocation for that amount. These funds are anticipated in August or September, 2023 and will be used for construction costs of Phase 1.
Construction Document Development Process
During the 4th Quarter of 2021, with all of the known permissions in place, the Board of Directors accepted the recommendation of Mike Abbate of Abbate Designs LLC to create a Construction Document Development Team. The team started meeting in the 1st Quarter of 2022. In the CD development process, the City of Salem was asked for review of various issues and the CD Team was advised that a few issues needed attention.
On August 2, 2022, the City of Salem approved the Class 3 Site Plan Review, a Class 2 Adjustment and a Tree Regulation Variance for the Vietnam War Memorial on the Oregon State Capitol Grounds. Also, during this process, the original City of Salem Historic Design Review was due to expire. An extension request was made and approved by the City of Salem.
The Construction Documents were completed on December 5, 2022.
2022-2023 Steering Committee – Content/Exhibit Development
In 2022, the Steering Committee was reactivated. All members of the original Steering Committee were invited to participate and invitations were sent to many new steering committee candidates. The final roster boasted more than 50 members.
The 2022-2023 Steering Committee was charged with determining content for the interpretive exhibits of the memorial and developing an Interpretive/Exhibit Plan to be submitted to Oregon Parks and Recreation Department for approval. This committee met virtually by Zoom and the meetings were conducted by Sea Reach, Ltd, an exhibit contractor.
The Steering Committee meetings were scheduled for July, 22, 2022, August 19, 2022, September 16, 2022, October 21, 2022, December 30, 2022, February 3, 2023 and April 21, 2023.
The content that was developed as a result of these meetings was reviewed by an historian firm, Historical Research Associates, Inc. (This firm was also used to verify the names to be listed on the memorial columns.) Editing occurred as a result of this review.
The draft Interpretive/Exhibit Plan was finalized and VanNatta Public Relations was engaged to establish an outreach process for public review of the draft plan.
Working with some members of the Steering Committee and Sea Reach, Ltd., VanNatta Public Relations completed a temporary website that described the Interpretive Exhibit Plan. The temporary website was available from May 15th to June 10th for the public to review and comment.
There were media releases that led to several radio interviews and newspaper articles concerning the content review. Also, social media posts were made.
Following the Public Review period, the Interpretive/Exhibit Plan was finalized by Sea Reach, Ltd. and submitted to the VWMF Board of Directors. The Board of Directors approved the plan and authorized the President to submit it to Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. The Plan was submitted to OPRD on September 6, 2023.
On April 1, 2024, OPRD advised that they could not approve the plan. As of this writing, negotiations are in process to develop resolution to the issues that caused the rejection of the plan. This rejection will not delay the construction of Phase 1 of the Memorial. However, it does affect Phase 2.
VWMF Board of Directors vote to Phase Construction in 2023
Because of the many delays in receiving the necessary permissions, the cost of the Vietnam War Memorial on the Oregon State Capital Grounds grew from the original estimate of 1.5 million dollars to over 5 million dollars in 5 years. The Board of Directors determined that waiting for full funding would probably doom the project altogether as construction costs have continued to skyrocket. At its May 10, 2023 meeting, the Board voted unanimously to split the construction of the Memorial into two phases; The Memorial Column Wall for Phase 1 and Exhibits as Phase 2.
Contractor Selection
A Contractor Selection Committee was established by the VWMF President and the Board of Directors in the 4th quarter of 2022. That committee started to research specialty construction firms that could build the memorial. After several interviews in the 1st quarter of 2023, a recommendation of the finalist was made to the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors authorized the Committee to negotiate with the finalist and develop a possible timeline of services and commitments for assistance in fundraising for the project. At its May 10, 2023 Board Meeting, Andersen Construction Company of Oregon was awarded a Pre-Construction Contract with an option to make a final proposal for construction.
Phase 1 Construction
On March 29, 2024, a ceremonial groundbreaking ceremony was held at the memorial site. On the 50th anniversary of the first Vietnam War Veterans Day, almost 200 people cheered the breaking of the ground.
At the time of this writing, the Building Permit is in process. The Board of Directors authorized a Phase 1 construction contract with Andersen Construction Company of Oregon at its March 27, 2024 meeting. Andersen is currently finalizing its plans for mobilizing to the site for construction.
Construction of Phase 1 is anticipated to start in June or July, 2024.
Fundraising
Since our first day of existence, fundraising has been our primary goal. With the help of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Department of Oregon and the Vietnam Veterans of America Oregon State Council, we were able to establish significant fund balances in 2018 and 2019. The Board of Directors appointed a fundraising consultant in 2019. Unfortunately, he ran us out of money and quit in March of 2021. A Capital Campaign Commission was organized in 2021. The Commission established a business plan for the Fund and was responsible for the Vietnam War Memorial Fund Gala & Fundraiser in Hillsboro on May 7, 2022 when Retired General James Mattis was the keynote speaker. On October 24, 2023 a successful fundraiser featuring Retired Major General Raymond Rees was held at the Brothers Car Museum in Salem, Oregon. Every contribution is important! A contribution today will ensure that Phase 1 construction is fully funded. Funds remaining after Phase 1 completion will be used for research and activities preparing the way for Phase 2.