JACKSON — Construction is expected to begin May 27 on a memorial where young men and women from Jackson who lost their lives too early will be remembered.
The Garden of Hope will take shape on a 3-acre tract at the Jackson Soccer Complex on Jackson Mills Road.
William Valentine, the project’s founder, said the memorial’s initial location in Johnson Park on Kierych Memorial Drive could not be used because of issues regarding a required state permit.
The permit is required because of Johnson Park’s previous use as a landfill.
“Anything you want to do with the disruption of a landfill needs a state permit and you need three meetings with the state before you can even apply,” Valentine said. “It is intense … and probably a year-long process that could have cost us more money than we were willing to spend.”
Valentine said township officials have given approval for work to begin at the new location, and he said he, his partners in the nonprofit Where Angels Play Foundation and more than 70 families who have lost children in the last decade are ready to make the best of the situation.
“Granted, this is going to be a place with soccer activity, but we are going to be pretty much secluded since it will be surrounded by trees,” Valentine said. “I think it will be a nice place.”
The Garden of Hope will feature a walkway that winds through a landscaped area featuring local and low-maintenance plants and shrubbery. The names of Jackson residents who died at a young age will be listed at one location in the garden.
Valentine said he hopes families dealing with the loss of a loved one will be able to find solace in the garden.
“You are never going to get complete closure, you are never going to get complete healing, but [the Garden of Hope] could give them some comfort,” he said. “If they want to sit on a bench and reflect or read a book and maybe be a little bit closer to their loved ones, that is our purpose.”