Nation’s first Lao-Hmong memorial approved

One-of-a-kind memorial planned for Westminster’s City Park

BY LUKE ZARZECKI LZARZECKI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Westminster will soon be home to a Lao-Hmong memorial, and according to the Lao-Hmong Foundation, it will be the rst in the nation. “ is memorial serves as a reminder of the sacri ces made by the Lao-Hmong and honors their legacy,” said Yangmee Lor. City Council voted unanimously on the project at the April 24 city council meeting.

“It helps to ensure that all cultural backgrounds are seen and heard and appreciated,” said City Councilor Obi Ezeadi.

e statue will be located in Westminster’s City Park, between the Christopher Fields Softball Complex and City Park Recreation Center. Preliminary designs sketch the memorial to be a T-28 Trojan Warbird airplane that served in the Secret War.

According to the non-pro t Hmong American Center, the Secret War was an operation during the Vietnam War when the CIA trained Hmong soldiers in Laos to ght with U.S. forces during the Vietnam War.

e National Lao-Hmong Memorial Foundation is on the hook for a di erent estimate.

Approved plant

One of Baker’s questions at the April 24 meeting was whether a different engineering rm would give

“I don’t think that’s likely,” Bleiker said. “ ose recommendations are based on the principles of engineers and speci c guidance for loads for the speci c concrete.”

She said the calculations are not subjective evaluations.

Seymour asked if the rate model-