The Mora City Council approved waiving $6,995.31 in remaining permitting fees for the Kanabec County Veterans Memorial at last Tuesday’s meeting.
According to American Legion Post 201 representative Al Skramstad, the preliminary permitting fee for the legion’s building at the site of the memorial was $10,000.
The memorial will be located on donated property at 203 Barker Street in Mora. Kanabec County Veterans Services Officer Erica Bliss has said it will be a plaza honoring all branches of the military and featuring a bronze statue.
Skramstad said the building will essentially serve as a legion hall.
"It's basically a legion hall meeting area," Skramstad said. "The Lions can meet there, the Boy Scouts, it's going to be open to any organization that wants to meet there. And it's a static display area for veterans memorabilia."
That display will include donated uniforms from World War 1 and World War 2.
In an update on the project, Skramstad said the goal is to get the shell of the building up this winter.
The memorial committee is waiting for a crane to put the plaza’s flags in place, and a helicopter will be escorted to the site next summer.
"That will go on a pole out there to the west of the walls," Skramstad said. "That helicopter right now, in November, is starting to be reassembled."
The helicopter that will be displayed is a Vietnam-era craft that had been shot down. It has been donated for the memorial at no cost.
