NORTH WILDWOOD – After delays, the first phase of the Gold Star Families Gateway being constructed in the city is nearly complete, except for a couple light fixtures.
Kyle Rutherford, confidential aide to Mayor Patrick Rosenello, said at the Tuesday, Nov. 19, City Council meeting that phase one was essentially finished, but it would be one to two years before phase two is completed. The project began in the February/March timeframe, and hopes to complete it by Memorial Day were abandoned.
The mayor said in May that he hoped July 4 would be the completion date. With that date long gone, the memorial site between Spruce and Anglesea avenues has not been dedicated but is essentially done, although no ribbon cutting has been scheduled.
“We were extremely optimistic at that time,” Bill Davenport, commander of VFW Post 5941, said of the earlier dates.
Davenport and others in the community, including Tom Corcoran, a Gold Star brother, Joe Griffies from the “Welcome Home Show,” Joe Orlando, a past VFW commander, Vietnam veteran John Vollrath and Dennis Dool, who organizes the Run to Remember to benefit veterans, have been working on the project for about eight years.
Davenport said there are six or eight streetlights to be installed, but the bases are in. He said some items had to be back-ordered. The monuments, however, were put in place in September.
There is a fenced-off portion just east of the VFW memorial, owned by Exxon, that was a former gas station site. According to Davenport, Exxon is remediating the site, which he believes the city will try to acquire as part of the gateway.
Davenport said he is thinking the phase one portion of the project could be dedicated in late winter or early spring 2025, acknowledging weather could be a factor. Asked about waiting until Memorial Day 2025, he said that could be considered, but he would not want it to be on Memorial Day, when there are so many other ceremonies going on in the county or in people’s hometowns.
Davenport previously announced that he was looking for surviving Gold Star Family members. He said he received at least seven responses after an article in the Herald about his search. He asked those people to speak to their relatives and ask if there was anyone else who could be included. His list, he said, was directed at Cape May County residents.
He said the national definition of Gold Star Family includes anyone who lived under the same roof or is a blood relative of a military member who was killed in the line of duty. That also includes the guardian or whoever raised them.
Davenport said the Gold Star label is not limited to those who were killed in combat but includes those who died from illness, injury or suicide – if they were wearing a uniform.
He said anyone who has a family member who died while in the military service may contact him at bysea@verizon.net or call 609-827-0588.
The Gateway
The city acquired property to create the gateway, in the area of Spruce and New York avenues, which is part of a vision the city has had for a long time, Rosenello said in May. The mayor said the memorial would be the first of its kind in New Jersey and was part of a complete rehab of the veterans memorial. He said, in May, that “it has taken a long time to fully piece this together.”
Rosenello said the city is interested in acquiring the former Exxon gas station site, but not until the site mitigation evaluation is complete.
The project is a cooperative effort between the city and the VFW. The city’s VFW monument was restored and has been reinstalled at the site. A triangular section of ground across Spruce Avenue will feature a 40-foot triangular tower that has nautical flags on each side.
Phase one included the all-branches memorial; a monolith with the emblems of all seven branches of military service, which are the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Marines and Air Force, plus the Space Force and the Merchant Marine.
The Gold Star monument will be the largest monument in the gateway and will be based on the Hershel “Woody” Williams model, which includes a black granite monument with a cutout image of a soldier saluting. Williams was the last Medal of Honor recipient from Iwo Jima.
The monument is 15 feet long, 7.5 feet high and 10 inches wide, and weighs 15,000 pounds. The memorial will be accessible 24 hours a day.
The Vietnam memorial is being replaced with an off-white granite memorial containing the old plaque and the VFW emblem. The all-branches memorial is black granite and has the seven branch emblems. The total cost of the project will be about $2.6 million.
Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
