Honoring the brave

Construction starts on Fallen Warriors Monument

The city broke ground this week in Veterans Historical Plaza to make way for the Fallen Warriors Monument.

Shovels hit the dirt on Thursday after two years of planning and just two weeks after the city council signed off on the monument’s final design.

“As I’m standing there looking at all these people and the work underway, it kind of grabbed me emotionally,” said Bill Reynolds, who conceptualized the project and serves as The Signal’s director of Veterans Affairs.

Reynolds met with city staff and a representative for C.A. Rasmussen Inc., who is doing all of the concrete work for the monument’s footing.

The construction company expects to pour the concrete next week, Reynolds said.

This week, city maintenance workers relocated the irrigation system that was in the way of the monument.

C.A. Rasmussen had anticipated they would do this aspect of the project as well, so Reynolds said he was pleasantly surprised that the city took it on.

“It was a major boost for our project,” Reynolds said. “It caught me by surprise and it will make the project so much better.”

According to Julia Regan, project manager for the monument, the city was prepared to handle the irrigation changes to make way for C.A. Rasmussen to start their work on Monday.

“Once the city parks team was able to locate where the irrigation lines were, they determined it was something they could readily take care of themselves and they stepped up and did it,” Regan said.

Beside the materials that were donated for the project from community members, the city is purchasing all other materials and will build the pergola to go over the monument.

“Our involvement is to help coordinate construction and offer assistance as they need it as far as any city requirements,” Regan said.

The area under construction in Veterans Historical Plaza will be blocked off until the project is complete.

There will not be any impacts to traffic, Regan said.

Community members can see the completed monument on Nov. 8 at the unveiling ceremony.

Bill Reynolds/ For The Signal Julia Regan, right, project manager for the city of Santa Clarita, stands beside Bill Reynolds on Thursday and discusses the construction to take place in Veterans Historical Plaza.