This week, the City Council approved the final public art design concept for Veterans Memorial Park. The piece, known as “The Ring,” was designed by artist Gordon Huether Studios and will be located on the park’s upper plateau overlooking the ocean, lagoon and golf course.
Shaped by community input, the art piece will offer a quiet space for reflection to honor military service and sacrifice. Its circular design symbolizes the enduring nature of duty, unity and remembrance.
The city’s park project team will design seating and landscaping around the area of the artwork. These features haven’t been designed yet, but will complement the park’s overall look and feel.
A separate Veterans Memorial Plaza with a flagpole, a small platform, perimeter benches, U.S. Military inscriptions and descriptive panels honoring service members will be located at the park’s lower level on the northwest side.
In response to community feedback, the artist added six long rectangular rods along the inside of “The Ring,” which will pay subtle homage to each branch of the U.S. military. These elements are also designed to discourage misuse, such as skating on the sculpture.
You can watch the recording of the meeting to learn more about the public art piece and the community input that helped shape it. Thank you to everyone who took time to share their thoughts along the way.
Next steps
City staff will prepare a contract for fabrication of the artwork and bring it to the City Council for review and approval at a future meeting.
Installation of the artwork will be coordinated with construction of Veterans Memorial Park, which is anticipated to begin in early 2026 and take about two years to complete.
Veterans Memorial Park will be the city’s largest park once built, and will feature a Veterans Memorial Plaza, trails, play areas, picnic spaces, a bike park and other amenities, with more than half the land preserved as undisturbed habitat.
In the coming weeks, city staff will bring detailed construction plans for the overall park to the City Council for approval and authorization to seek construction bids.
