Plans for a Veterans Memorial are advancing in Edina, with a budget set and new ordinances in place to allow construction of the project at Utley Park.

Last week, the City Council unanimously passed a resolution that would contribute no more than $30,000 in city money toward design and engineering costs for the memorial. The cost of the entire project is limited to $400,000, which will be raised from donors.

Supporters of the memorial hope it will be finished by Memorial Day or July 4th in 2012.

"I think it will bring the community together to honor those who served, and particularly those who lost their lives," said Mike Goergen, a Vietnam veteran who chairs the Veterans Memorial Committee.

While such cities as Eden Prairie and Richfield have veterans memorials that have become the centerpiece of community events, Edina has a few small, scattered memorials.

There's an American Legion flagpole in Utley Park that was dedicated to World War II veterans in 1955, a little triangle of land named Williams Park that was named after a soldier who died in World War II and a seating area in another park named for a veteran.

Goergen, who served in the Marines, thinks the community hungers for something more.

"I think this rights an injustice to all veterans," he said.

Landscape architect Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc. was chosen from nine companies to help design the memorial. Goergen said the committee is still talking about the specifics of the memorial's design.

Generally, members have agreed that there should be three flagpoles, one for the Stars and Stripes, one for the black-and-white POW flag and one to display the flag of either the state of Minnesota or the city of Edina. There also will be a central statue or focal point.

Tablets, likely of granite, will honor the five military branches, veterans and those who were killed in action. Benches that would seat perhaps a dozen people have been proposed. Members thought the area around the memorial should be accessible and big enough to accommodate gatherings of 150 to 200 people. Not all of that area would need to be paved, Goergen said.

At a City Council meeting last month, Park and Recreation Director John Keprios said the memorial site needed to be highly visible but serene enough to allow visitors to sit for private reflection. He said it needed to be aesthetically pleasing and have parking, shade and accessible restrooms. Utley Park at W. 50th Street and Wooddale Avenue met those requirements.

One City Council member expressed concern that the memorial would be located near Minnehaha Creek, and that permission from the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District was needed for construction. Keprios responded that the district has been informed about the city's plans.

Council members also said they wanted to make sure maintenance costs for the memorial are held to a minimum. Partly because of maintenance concerns, the idea of having a fountain at the memorial was dropped.

More details about exactly what kind of care the memorial will require will come when the landscape architect completes a preliminary design, Keprios said. But one cost that is already apparent is that Utley Park's restrooms are old and may need renovation.

"They probably need an upgrade," Kepiros told the council last week. "What the costs are and who would assume the cost hasn't been determined, but it will be by the time of the public hearing."

An open house for residents will be held when the architect's preliminary design is ready. Fundraising will not start until the architect's design is ready to present to the community, Georgen said. The Edina Community Foundation will manage the memorial account.

Construction will not begin until all the money is in hand.

Mary Jane Smetanka • 612-673-7380