Members of the Romulus City Council voted unanimously to return the city Veterans Memorial to the grounds of the municipal complex.
The vote came following a public hearing at city hall last Monday, Feb. 13, when several local residents offered opinions and concerns about the reinstallation of the monument. The memorial was disassembled during construction of the new court house and has been in storage at the DPW facility for more than a year.
Mayor Robert McCraight introduced the issue during his report to the members of the council. He said he was confident that the majority of the people who attended the public hearing were in favor of having the memorial at the city hall complex.
A proposal to move the memorial from the former site to the grounds of the historic Peter C. Bird House near Wayne and Vining Road was favored by some residents who attended the hearing. Moving the monument to the Bird House site would have included the establishment of a veterans park on the property which has been designated as a registered national historic site.
Following a formal motion by Councilman Bill Wadsworth to reinstall the memorial at the southwest corner of the municipal complex, Councilwoman Tina Talley noted that during the study session preceding the meeting, the “overwhelming majority of those in attendance” wanted the memorial to be reinstalled on the municipal site.
“I believe in building for those coming in the future,” Talley said, “I believe in building for those who come after us but this is what the majority of people want so I will be voting in favor of this.”
Council President John Barden agreed with Talley's assessment. “We asked for a show of hands and when I looked out, the majority of those (at the public hearing) wanted to keep it here.”
Councilwoman Kathy Abdo said she wanted to comment on the dignity and respect those who attended the hearing showed for the differing opinions expressed during the discussion.
Following the unanimous vote, McCraight said he wanted to compliment Jill Martin, who was involved in the proposed location for the memorial.
“She had the courage to have that vision and she came up with a great idea, did the homework, supplied data, talked to people. This is democracy at its best. We're going to keep it here,” McCraight said. No timeline for the reconstruction of the monument was discussed.
Councilwoman Eva Webb was absent from the meeting.
