Chippewa Valley Veterans Tribute breaks ground on flagpole

Friday, June 12, 2020
WEAU staff

ALTOONA, Wis. (WEAU) -- The Chippewa Valley Veterans Tribute project officially broke ground on Friday to begin installation of the 140 ft tall flagpole.

The flag will be 40 ft tall and 80 ft long and will be the tallest in the Chippewa Valley.

The pole itself will be installed in June and an American Flag dedication will be held once it is completed.

The flagpole will be placed on the North East side of River Prairie Park in Altoona next to the Highway 53 Bridge.

"Our veterans deserve it," says Mark Beckfield, president of the Eau Claire County Veterans Foundation. "It is gonna show the 80,000 people who drive by here a day exactly where the Chippewa Valley Veterans Tribute is. People will drive by and wonder where River Prairie is and they are gonna be able to find it with no problem, just go to the big flag and turn. It will be awesome."

The next features to be installed will be the MIA, POW and Wisconsin flags along with veterans tribute stones.

The plan had been to break ground on the project with a Blue Angels Flyover but that was cancelled due to the pandemic.

Now plans are in place to hold an officials groundbreaking later this summer.

Read more about this article »