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Newtown Relocates Proposed Vet Memorial

Town Talk | Wednesday, March 15, 2006
by Kenn Stark

Planning for a Newtown Township veterans’ memorial continued with the announcement that the memorial site has been changed to the southwest corner of a proposed “lifestyle village” on West Chester Pike, near the Edgmont/Newtown border. Developer Claude de Botton, who is in the process of getting approval for the 56-arce mixed-use community, donated the prime frontage at Alice Grim Boulevard.

A memorial fundraising campaign (with a goal of $300,000) was kicked off last Veterans Day at the municipal building, not at the originally proposed memorial site of Brookside Park, off Bryn Mawr Ave. Even then, negotiations with de Botton to provide a better venue were underway.

“This location gives us more visibility and better security, is easier to find and easier to see,” Newtown Township Veterans Memorial Committee Chair Steve Neri said. “I don’t think there’s going to be another community in the country that’s going to have anything as beautiful as this,” he added.

The concrete memorial will include flags of every service branch. A carved marble eagle will serve as the centerpiece, positioned under the inscription: We Will Never Forget. Former Newtown Police Chief Stan Short has already collected the names of 650 Newtown servicemen, dating back to the American Revolution. In fact, the first name on the engraved list of honorees will be General ‘Mad’ Anthony Wayne, who was a Newtown resident.

Every American war and all branches of the armed forces will be represented, with proof of service and township residence being the only requirements to have a name included on the memorial. The desirability of the new memorial site depends largely on de Botton’s “dream to create a mixed-use.” The developer is seeking a zoning change from four different zones on seven contiguous parcels to a single commercial-zoned lot.

Luxury townhouses and condos on the hillside would overlook Marville at Newtown Township – a pedestrian-friendly shopping plaza linked to restaurants, a 220-room hotel, and a 42,000-square foot arts conservatory. Newtown planners gave a preliminary nod to the project last week, but full development of de Botton’s dream will take several years. The only change requested by the planning commission was the addition of a tree line buffer along Rte. 3, to reduce the view of parking lots from the highway.