By Tom Bogdon
The Kansas City Parks Department is studying ways to repair the reflecting pools at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and expects to have the chronic maintenance problem corrected by fall, Mike Herron, manager of the department’s natural resources division, said this week.
The splotchy appearance of the bottoms of the reflecting pools was highly visible to several hundred persons who attended an annual Memorial Day observance at the Wall of Honor there, prompting an article in KCTribune headlined, “A Slap in the Face of Vietnam Veterans.”
The memorial is located near 43rd Street and Broadway.
“A large number of people visit there,” Herron said. “A lot of people visit there and care for the memorial. We’re hopeful we will have a solution in the next month or two.”
Herron said the memorial, completed in 1985, features a fountain and concrete reflecting pools. However, after a few years the pools began to leak. He said attempts have been made to waterproof the pools, but problems have persisted.
About three years ago, a dark-colored sealant was applied to the pools, followed by an off-white coating. But in places the off-white coating has peeled off, leaving the unsightly splotchy appearance. The pool bottoms have now had this problem since last fall, when the coating began to deteriorate.
“Everything we’ve done up until now hasn’t worked,” Herron said.
“We are looking at contractors who specialize in applying a water-proof base and sealant and a color coating.”
Herron said many people are concerned about these maintenance problems at one of the city’s most prominent fountains.
“We’ve had a number of people contact us about the problem,” Herron said. “That’s a very visible fountain.”
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