Voters Get To Decide Where The Royal Oak War Memorial Will Sit

ROYAL OAK, MI — At the center of Royal Oak's 2021 elections is a 75-year-old war memorial that carries the names of 188 service members who made the ultimate sacrifice.

City officials decided to move to monument 68 feet to the east in May, which they said is part of the city's plan for a new downtown park.

The move, however, enraged several veteran groups, as they said they were never asked about the possible new location. They argue moving the location is disrespectful and won’t properly honor Royal Oak residents who lost their lives in military service. They also organized a Facebook page called, "Save The Royal Oak Veterans War Memorial."

The veterans then fought hard to get the issue on the ballot, where voters will be asked whether or not the veterans memorial should be moved back to its original site.

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But it's not just veterans who are upset about the war memorial's move, political challengers are also using the issue to attack city incumbents ahead of the city's 2021 elections.

One of the challengers running for mayor is Tom Roth, and he told the Detroit Free Press in August that he is not only looking to win the election for himself, but also for the monument.

He also said the city's decision to move the memorial shows "that the city really didn’t care what the people thought."

On the other hand, C & G News reported that City Manager Paul Brake said moving the veterans memorial back to its previous location would cost a minimum of $400,000.

“(The high cost is) because we’re not just moving the monument, but removing what’s being placed in that area,” Brake said. “The park around that has to be redesigned. … It’s not just a simple lift by crane and setting it down. We would have to (bid contracts to) remove concrete that’s there as intended walkways.”