Work has begun on a memorial to Douglas County’s fallen police and soldiers that will stand at the Union Depot in North Lawrence.

“From the Ashes” is a sculpture being created by Lawrence artist Jim Brothers, who said Friday that he wasn’t ready to show any part of the work to the public. It depicts a half-man, half-phoenix rising from the flames of a burning building.

“It’s going to be great,” said former Mayor Erv Hodges, who chairs the Douglas County Memorial of Honor Foundation, which is paying for the memorial. “Hopefully, that can turn out to be the new symbol of Lawrence.”

Brothers said the head of the statue was complete, and the body was next.

“There’s almost nothing to see right now,” Brother said. “But things are going good on it.”

Hodges said the future home of the sculpture had symbolic importance. During World War I and II, the depot was the main departure point for Douglas County men and women joining the armed forces.

The memorial will include the names of more than 300 Douglas County soldiers and police officers who have fallen in action since the Civil War.

“We need to know if there are any Douglas County residents we’re not aware of,” Hodges said. “We’re paying for some research to be done to make sure we have the proper identification of all of them.”

And there will be space for more names.

“Unfortunately, it permits us to add on if there are new ones,” Hodges said.

Getting approval to place the memorial at the depot, now the Lawrence Visitor Center, wasn’t easy. Critics said the sculpture would detract from the clean line of the depot itself. The Lawrence City Commission approved the proposal anyway, in February 2000.

“The original design has been modified somewhat,” Hodges said. “It’s more manlike. It’s a better piece, a classical piece.”

The foundation has raised $157,000 of the $200,000 it needs to pay for the memorial.

“We’ll make it,” Hodges said. Aside from money, Hodges said, the foundation also would accept donations of concrete.

The memorial should be ready for dedication by the time Lawrence’s sesquicentennial rolls around in July 2004.