DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A Dubuque racing group hopes to spend $3.4 million on a veterans memorial for an island in the Mississippi River that’ll include walkways, a waterfall and a sculpture. The Telegraph Herald reports that the Dubuque Racing Association Board of Directors is expected to vote on the project during their monthly meeting on Tuesday. The memorial would honor local World War II veteran Chaplain Aloysius Schmitt, who was aboard the USS Oklahoma on Dec. 7, 1941, when the ship was torpedoed and eventually capsized. He was one of more than 400 crew members who died in the attack.
The project also needs approval from the Dubuque City Council and the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission before it can move forward. If the project is approved, DRA officials would expect to break ground next spring.