DA County Commissioners get update on Women Veterans Monument

Dona Ana County commissioners got an update Tuesday on the long-awaited Womens Veterans Monument.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the project will be held 10 a.m. on September 10 at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Las Cruces.

Karen Woods, the president of the United Military Women of the Southwest, first showed ABC-7 her plans to build the monument last year. She says it’ll cost at least $406,000. That money was allocated from the state in 2014.

But Woods says since then it’s been a waiting game. On Monday, the city cleared the spot at Veteran’s Memorial Park where the monument will sit. She says the city is expected to hire a contractor to begin building next month.

The monument will include six bronze life size women representing different branches of the military.

Woods hopes the project will be completed by the end of 2017. She wants all women who’ve served to be honored.

“If anyone has been to the wall in D.C, the Vietnam wall, you’ll have loved ones go to that wall and they will run their hand across that and you can’t put it into words,” Woods said. “I want the same feeling to be done with these bronze statutes for those people who are able to touch those monuments to be able to feel and you can’t put that into words.”