Klamath Falls Veterans Memorial Park
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The Klamath Falls Veterans Memorial Park is a recreational park located on Lake Ewauna in downtown Klamath Falls,
Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
, US. It was established in 2007 as a memorial honoring those who have served and/or are serving in the U.S. Armed Forces, Coast Guard and Wartime Merchant Marine. Construction of the park was overseen by the 173d Fighter wing,
Oregon Air National Guard The Oregon Air National Guard (OR ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of Oregon, United States of America. It is, along with the Oregon Army National Guard, an element of the Oregon National Guard. As state militia units, the units in the Ore ...
located at
Kingsley Field Kingsley Field Air National Guard Base is the home base of the Oregon Air National Guard's 173rd Fighter Wing (173 FW). History In 1928, the citizens of Klamath Falls approved the sale of $50,000 worth of bonds to construct an airport. The ai ...
. The City of Klamath Falls oversees the maintenance of the Memorial. The park features memorial bricks for past and present military personnel, an informational kiosk, a covered pavilion and a display of Locomotive#2579 used by the
Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...
.


Location

Klamath Falls Veterans Memorial Park is located where US Route 97 passes over the Link River, at the southern end of downtown Klamath Falls. Because of its location at the north end of the
Klamath River The Klamath River (Karuk: ''Ishkêesh'', Klamath: ''Koke'', Yurok: ''Hehlkeek 'We-Roy'') flows through Oregon and northern California in the United States, emptying into the Pacific Ocean. By average discharge, the Klamath is the second larges ...
, the park has boat access to Lake Ewauna.


History

A volunteer committee was created to oversee the proposal, design and construction of a memorial park to honor veteran servicemen. The original project was designed to take place in multiple phases to include future expansion. With the assistance of the local military organizations and civilian clubs, the Oregon National Guard, the city and county of Klamath, as well as multiple donations of citizens, the first phase of Klamath Falls Veterans Memorial Park broke ground in August 2007 and was completed and dedicated three months later, on Veterans' Day, November 11, 2007. Phase 1 of construction included a covered pavilion and benches, flag poles, concrete walkways with red, white and blue fiber optic lights, bronze plaques representing the military branches, monuments depicting various wars, initial memorial brick pavers and landscaping. A second phase dedicated on Memorial Day, 2008 included a Blue Star Memorial Highway marker, which pays tribute to all of the armed forces that have defended the United States. The second phase also included memorial brick pavers.


Geothermal system

Because the City of Klamath Falls is located in a Known Geothermal Resource Area, all sidewalks and the memorial brick bases in the Veterans Memorial Park contain piping for a geothermal heating system. This natural heatsource allows the Memorial to provide direct geothermally heated
snowmelt system A snowmelt system prevents the build-up of snow and ice on cycleways, walkways, patios and roadways, or more economically, only a portion of the area such as a pair of -wide tire tracks on a driveway or a center portion of a sidewalk, etc. It ...
s during the winter months.


See also

* List of parks in Klamath Falls, Oregon


References

{{Reflist Military monuments and memorials Klamath Falls, Oregon Municipal parks in Oregon 2007 establishments in Oregon Memorial parks