LEXINGTON — The Lexington Veterans Pavilion was formally dedicated during the 150th anniversary celebration weekend on Saturday, June 29.
The Lexington Veterans Pavilion started out as an idea to honor local veterans in Lexington, as at the moment, there is no dedicated memorial to veterans.
Lexington Veterans Pavilion committee member and Army veteran Jim Bliven said the initial idea was to have streets named after local veterans who had died in Vietnam combat.
Instead of street signs, the City of Lexington proposed a memorial to local veterans, that would double as a space for the community to use.
The pavilion represents a concentrated effort to ensure people realize there were citizens from the Lexington community who served in wars from World War I to Iraq and Afghanistan.
The project broke ground in 2020. The City of Lexington will own the facility and provide ongoing operations and management now that it has been built.
“American soldiers in combat die two deaths,” Bliven said during the dedication event on Saturday, “their first death is on the battlefield when they spill their American blood on foreign soil. They die again when the people they fought for forget about the sacrifices they made.”
Bliven said without the committee made up of Marge Bader, Dick Prasch and Steve Zerr, the pavilion would not have come to fruition, each providing their own unique talents at the needed times.
He said the total cost to build the facility was $1.5 million and noted the project had to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic and labor and supply shortages.
The pavilion project was the recipient of several large donations over this summer and fall, including those from Platte Valley Auto, Heartland Chevrolet Buick, the Todd and Kim Booth family, Orthman Manufacturing, Downey Drilling, Pinnacle Bank, Nebraskaland Tire Group, Reynolds Love Funeral Home and the John and Tami Sue Reynolds family.
Donations also came from the veterans’ families, including the extended family of Braulio and Mary Barron, who honored Florentino P. Barron and Joseph D. Barron who both served in the Army.
Florentino Barron died while in a firefight in Vietnam on May 18, 1967.
Bliven said the dedication is not the end of the process but just the start of exploring everything the pavilion has to offer the community, with more improvements coming in the future.
Lexington Mayor John Fagot spoke and thanked the Wright and Kirkpatrick families for the donation of the land that the pavilion sits on near Kirkpatrick Memorial Park.
Fagot said when the first discussion occurred about the pavilion several important factors were discussed. He said that included how the veterans would be remembered, what the physical structure of the space would be and creating a community gathering area.
City Manager, Joe Pepplitsch stated in a Lexington Community Foundation press release, “The pavilion would serve as a venue for community events, an educational resource on the function, importance and history of the military branches, a memorial for veterans, and a redevelopment of city park space.”
Fagot said the pavilion represents an effort to remember and honor those veterans from the Lexington area and to educate the wider public about the different branches of the United States military.
To that end, a pentagon shape was chosen for the pavilion and at each point is a pillar with information about the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Marines. A QR code will be present to be easily scanned and have pertinent information and facts about the branches, Fagot said.
The decision to make the pavilion an event space for Lexington was made to draw people who might not normally visit a military memorial. By serving as a community event space, people can also educate themselves about Lexington’s veterans and the service branches, Fagot said.
Fagot encouraged parents to bring their children and teachers to bring their students to the pavilion so they can learn. He said when you are educated, you remember.
Steve Zerr spoke last and said he does not think of the wall holding veterans’ names as a memorial, but rather as a “Celebration of Service,” wall.
He said memorials typically only include the birth and death dates of an individual, but the bricks in the wall are etched with the years that a veteran served their country.
Zerr said it is so important that a space like the veterans pavilion has come to Lexington because it serves as a space where veterans can gather, reminisce, remember fallen comrades and heal.
To close the dedication, a military gun salute was held and “Taps” was played.
A ribbon cutting was then held, with Lexington native and World War II veteran, Wilbur Rupke, having the honor to officially open the Lexington Veterans Pavilion.
