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Grunley-Walsh Joint Venture and Tompkins Builders in a joint-venture completed construction of a new National World War II Memorial. The Memorial's architecture is unique with various artistic elements symbolizing various aspects of the war. The elements include a wall of 4,000 gold stars (pictured below left) representing the more than 400,000 Americans who died in battle during World War II. There are 24 Bas-Relief panels that depict scenes from World War II. The 56 granite pillars (representative of the states and jurisdictions of the U.S. who fought in the war) are adorned with Bronze Wreaths (see below right), one oak and one wheat representing the military and agricultural strength of the country and connected together with a bronze rope motif representing the unity of the country during the period in time.

The project was safe, under budget by approximately $1 million, and ahead of schedule despite a 5-week delay due to excessive snowfall, a 3-day delay due to a bomb threat, and a 5-day delay to satisfy the annual National Park Service July 4th fireworks left unexploded ordinance demanding that debris scattered over the site be thoroughly swept and declared safe before work could resume. The project opened a month ahead of the formal dedication on May 29, 2004.

The entire project team never wavered from working to achieve the highest quality and value possible. Over $800,000 in value engineering proposals were accepted by the Owner. The General Services Administration (GSA) provided project management and contracting services for design and construction of the memorial. Like other Washington-area national memorials, the National Park Service will provide daily oversight of the WWII Memorial. Most of the funding for the project came from the general public.

With its prominent position on the National Mall and emotional appeal to America's rapidly vanishing "greatest generation," the World War II Memorial has received outstanding media coverage. In fact its dedication was broadcast live on the History Channel and C-SPAN. The design and construction of the memorial were captured in a one-hour PBS documentary World War II Memorial: A Testament to Freedom.

The Memorial also served as the backdrop for a four-day "Tribute to a Generation." Helding during the Memorial Day weekend, this event brought hundreds of thousands of veterans and their families to Washington for the formal dedication ceremony, reunions, exhibitions, a national prayer service and military performance. The dedication itself featured more than 100,000 attendees, many of them veterans.

 

• National WWII Memorial
• Washington Monument

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