A long-anticipated memorial to Douglas County’s war veterans is nearing completion, but more money is needed to finish the project.

“I think we’re at the point we’ve got the home stretch in front of us,” said Erv Hodges, a former Lawrence mayor and chairman of the Douglas County Patriots Memorial Committee. “I need $25,000 to make everything perfect.”

The memorial is to be installed at Union Pacific Depot in North Lawrence and dedicated July 4. Hodges said the committee had raised enough money — $175,000 — to pay for the centerpiece statue and prepare the site. The remaining funds would be used to buy a museum kiosk computer that would list names and biographical information of Douglas County residents who died serving their country.

“We’ve identified, we think, all those who were killed from Douglas County, and we’ve got background information on most of them,” said Hodges, himself a veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars. “If we can’t buy the computer, we can make a booklet, but it won’t be quite as nice.”

The centerpiece of the memorial will be a 19-foot sculpture created by Lawrence artist Jim Brothers. Called “From the Ashes,” the sculpture depicts a half-man, half-phoenix rising from flames. Hodges said the statue had been created in clay, cut into four pieces and sent away to be cast in metal.

Brothers also created the statues featured in the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Va., and a statue of President Dwight D. Eisenhower that stands in the U.S. Capitol.

Hodges’ committee received city permission in 2000 to place the memorial outside the depot, where Douglas County soldiers often left home by train during World War II. Since receiving the city’s blessing, he said, the committee had been “very quietly” raising money, aided by a few large gifts and a number of smaller donations “all the way down to $2.”

Public memorial taking shape (9-12-03) Hero memorial under way (3-15-03)

“I think those who have an interest in this type of thing have responded generously,” Hodges said.

Hodges said he hoped to raise the remaining money by creating a “memorial register,” which would charge $20 apiece to list the names of Douglas County residents who served in the armed forces.

He said the memorial could even bring visitors to Lawrence.

“It’s really going to be great for the community,” Hodges said. “It is really impressive.”