Maple Grove Days: Veterans Memorial to be Unveiled

On the southwest corner of Maple Grove’s Central Park, there’s a collection of cement slabs and newly laid sod surrounded by a chain link fence.

It may not look like much now, but come July 14, this construction site will become Veterans Memorial Park.

“We need to treat all of our veterans with honor and respect,” said Joel Skagerberg, co-chair of Maple Grove’s Beyond the Yellow Ribbon group. “They took time out of their lives to make sure we’re free. So we have to respect that.”

Three Years in the Making

For the past three years, the Beyond the Yellow Ribbon organization has been working with the city of Maple Grove to make this vision become a reality.

“There’s no veterans memorial or any memorial park in Maple Grove,” Skagerberg said. “We’re a big city and no place really to honor our veterans. No place to go and remember what they’ve done for us.”

Supporters officially broke ground on the project this past April. Since then, construction crews have been hard at work making sure that the memorial will be ready for the dedication ceremony during Maple Grove Days. Skagerberg hopes people of all ages attend.

“Just because you’re going to see something you haven’t seen before,” Skagerberg said. “You’re going to see a lot of different military families. It’s a good time to take time and actually thank those veterans, because there’ll be a lot of veterans here.”

Many of those veterans will have their names forever etched in stone at one of the city’s most popular destinations.

“I can’t wait to see it open and teach all the kids what all the service and sacrifice is for,” Skagerberg said.

The total cost of the project will be roughly $260,000 with much of the money being raised from the sale of engraved bricks and other donations.

The official dedication ceremony will take place at Maple Grove’s Central Park on Sunday, July 14, at 1 p.m.

Maple Grove