By Steve Kemme
The Cincinnati Enquirer

MONROE - After months of planning a war veterans memorial park, city officials have decided to shelve the project for the immediate future because of its $300,000 price tag.

At the urging of City Councilman Robert Youtsler, his council colleagues agreed last week to postpone development of the park until an advisory committee raises enough money to pay for it.

City Council had hoped to be ready next Memorial Day to dedicate the park, which would be located at a city-owned site near City Hall.

But there will be no park dedication until Memorial Day, 2004, or beyond.

"We all think the park's a good thing," said Mr. Youtsler, a Korean War veteran. "But we're a growing city, and we have so many other needs."

The city's more pressing projects, he said, include repaving streets, doing streetscape work, hiring more police and firefighters, buying more cemetery ground and improving the Ohio 63 interchange at Interstate 75.

Monroe's decision to postpone its veterans memorial project occurs at a time when a number of Tristate communities have built or are proceeding with plans to build memorials to war veterans - a trend partly fueled by the tide of patriotic fervor that has swept the nation since the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Sharonville and Batavia dedicated new memorials last year.

This year, Fairfield added a statue of a veteran of foreign wars and brick pavers to its veterans memorial. Another monument will be added next year.

Mason, Middletown, Butler County's Hanover Township and Covington's Latonia neighborhood all have memorial projects in the works.

In all these communities, the memorials are being funded partly or wholly with private donations.

So Monroe's decision not to use taxpayer money to fund their park is in line with the funding strategies of these other communities.

"The project isn't dead," Monroe City Manager Don Whitman said. "We'll just be looking to fund it a different way."

But Monroe has already committed $45,000 of city money to buy a bronze eagle with a seven-foot wingspan.

The eagle, designed to be part of a monument, will be shipped early next year from Idaho, and will be placed in storage until Monroe has the money to proceed with the park.

City Council awarded a contract for the eagle earlier this year - before anyone realized that the memorial park would cost $300,000.

"When I saw the figures, I said, `Hold it!,' " Mr. Youtsler said.

Mr. Youtsler and Mr. Whitman said they have received no negative comments so far from residents or war veterans groups.

Judy Smith, a Monroe resident whose brother was killed in the Vietnam War, supports council's decision to delay the memorial project. A street off South Main Street - William Goth Drive - is named after her brother.

"I think road work needs to be done first," she said. "When we have the funds for the memorial, fine."

Most people understand the financial constraints a city like Monroe is contending with in these difficult economic times, Mr. Youtsler said.

He noted: "I don't think there's a war veteran who would say, `Build a statue for me instead of a park for kids or funding a project for schools.' "

E-mail skemme@enquirer.com