Ground Broken for Veterans Memorial Park in Towanda

Towanda, Bradford County - A project three years in the making celebrated a milestone Tuesday afternoon in Bradford County.

Ground was broken at the future home of the Bradford County Veterans Memorial Park.

Organizers say it is a big deal.

"Today's a big day for us, three years in the planning to get to this point," organizer Joe Doherty said.

The site of the park, right off the bridge over the Susquehanna River, will soon become a place to honor veterans from all generations.

"I want our young returning veterans to come across that bridge, see this and realize how thankful we are for their service and sacrifice," Doherty said.

The project will be completed over four different phases.

When complete, the park will feature a retaining wall, granite footprint and rotunda, among many other things.

Borough leaders in Towanda say this is the right place and right time to honor our servicemen and servicewomen.

"We chose it with a little bit of are and discretion and yeah, we think it's in the right spot because it sees a lot of traffic and it's central to our town and it's going to be one of the cornerstones to our community," councilman Mark Christini said.

For those that served, they can't wait for the memorial park to be complete.

They say it will be more than just a monument. They hope it will be a place for people to reflect and learn the stories of Bradford County's war heroes.

"You realize all the people that you serve with came from some place and when you come here, you realize how many people come from here but you never know, you never hear the stories," George Crowell of Athens Township said.