COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – A statewide veterans memorial will include a high-tech, glass-walled museum and a memorial grove among other features.

by Arnaldo Rodgers

The recently released design drawings for the Ohio Veterans Memorial and Museum show sweeping concrete arches supporting the museum’s massive glass-curtain wall, The Columbus Dispatch reported. Other elements include a promenade that will wrap around the building and rise to a rooftop sanctuary.

The president of the Columbus Downtown Development Corporation that is leading the project says the rooftop green space could be used for various celebrations for military personnel and veterans. Corporation President Guy Worley says construction of the new museum should be complete by the end of 2016, with the initial cost estimate at $55 million.

About $50 million has been raised from approximately a dozen private and public partners, Worley said.

The architects, the development corporation and a veterans advisory committee collaborated on the design.

Retired Maj. Gen. Dennis Laich, chairman of that committee, said it consists of 19 veterans from across Ohio, representing each branch of the armed forces and various ranks.

“It will not only memorialize veterans but also educate the public about the military,” Laich said. “That’s something that we think, as veterans, is very important and will go a long way in closing the civil-military gap that exists in our society.”

Burt Logan, executive director and CEO of the Ohio History Connection said that organization will make its resources available to help the museum’s exhibit designers tell Ohio veterans’ stories. The Ohio History Connection has collections of weapons and day-to-day military tools and letters and diaries of military personnel. It also has an oral history project that features veterans telling their stories.

“What the new Ohio Veterans Memorial and Museum represents is an opportunity to tell to a broad audience the awe-inspiring story of Ohio veterans and their sacrifice to the nation over two centuries,” Logan said.

The updated plan now includes an outdoor memorial grove north of the museum building that is intended to provide a place of contemplation for visitors. The grove will feature a rock wall with relief images honoring each of the five branches of the U.S. Armed Forces – the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard – and a reflecting pool and waterfall.

Allied Works Architecture is designing the memorial.