Clinton Unveils Depiction of Planned WWII Memorial

WASHINGTON — The planned World War II Memorial in one of the National Mall’s central symbolic spaces will be a sunken plaza framed by high stone walls and two sweeping curves of 25 fluted columns--one massive column for each of the 50 states.

This competition-winning concept will become “the first national memorial to all who served in World War II,” said President Clinton, who unveiled it Friday at the White House.

The memorial will be at the eastern end of the Reflecting Pool, between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. Its designer is Friedrich St. Florian, an Austrian-born architect who for more than 30 years has been associated with the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence.

Authorized by Congress in 1993, the memorial will cost about $100 million, according to the American Battle Monuments Commission, which must raise the money.

The hoped-for completion date is Veterans Day 2000, but ground cannot be broken until the money is raised, said the commission chairman, retired Gen. Fred F. Woerner. The design also must be approved by the Interior secretary, National Capital Planning Commission and Fine Arts Commission.