The Cobb County Board of Commissioners addressed the ongoing Veterans Memorial project during its meeting on August 26. The memorial is planned for a site on Fairground Road, which is county parks property.
Previously, the board approved two Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) related to the project, in 2019 and 2021. During the recent meeting, Commissioner JoAnn Birrell proposed transferring $1 million in SPLOST funds from a park in her district to support the memorial project in District 2. She stated that this transfer would help the Cobb Veterans Memorial Foundation proceed with a scaled-down version of the original plan.
According to information provided by the Foundation, rising costs have caused the budget for the memorial to nearly double from its initial estimate of $3.5 million as set out in the 2019 MOU. The Foundation suggested reducing expenses by building a more modest version at an estimated cost of $5 million.
The location for the memorial falls within Commissioner Erick Allen’s district. Allen expressed reluctance about allocating additional SPLOST funding, explaining that voters had not approved this specific use and that both MOUs require that funding be raised by the Foundation itself. He cited language from both agreements specifying this responsibility: “the MOUs specify that the Foundation is responsible for raising the project’s funds (2019 MOU, Page 9, Exhibit ‘B,’ and 2021 MOU, Page 3, ‘Funding’).”
There are also questions regarding how much money has been raised so far by the Cobb Veterans Memorial Foundation. Although financial reporting is required under terms outlined in page four of the 2021 MOU, no reports have been submitted for 2024.
Commissioner Allen said he remains committed to seeing a veterans memorial built at Fairground Road. He noted plans to work with legal counsel to determine if construction could begin in phases using already committed funds and indicated his hope for a groundbreaking before year-end. If Cobb County were to take over responsibility for construction, it would follow standard county bidding and procurement procedures.
Cobb County schools saw enrollment rise by less than 0.1% during the 2022-23 school year compared to previous years (https://www.gadoe.org/). Total enrollment was reported at 115,076 students (https://www.gadoe.org/), with white students comprising about one-third of those enrolled (https://www.gadoe.org/).
