Kansas City, Mo. ? The management of Liberty Memorial could be transferred to a private group on Feb. 1, just two months before residents vote on a $20 million bond issue for the memorial.

The Liberty Memorial Assn., which created the monument and is trying to raise money for a new museum, would take over daily control of the monument from the city if the City Council eventually approves a contract with the group.

The Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners on Tuesday will consider a management contract that foresees an end to annual city subsidies in 10 years.

If voters approve $20 million in city-backed bonds, it would help build the proposed $26 million museum, which would feature high-tech interactive displays and the nation’s largest collection of World War I artifacts.

The city would contribute $625,000 a year for overhead costs, which is what the Parks and Recreation Department now spends on the memorial, according to parks Director Mark McHenry. That subsidy would end in 2014, assuming that by then the Liberty Memorial Assn. would be operating a successful enterprise.

“As a not-for-profit, we are eligible for a number of grants” that the city is not, said Steve Berkheiser, executive director of the Liberty Memorial Assn. “And you have a staff whose only focus and only purpose is the Liberty Memorial in terms of promoting, marketing, leveraging ideas and volunteers.”

The Liberty Memorial and its grounds in Penn Valley Park would remain public property. The more than 400,000 World War I artifacts in the collection would remain the property of the association. The management contract would be renewable every five years and can be terminated by either side, but both sides agree that the memorial and the war artifacts are “inexorably linked.”

Contract terms call for the Parks and Recreation Department to approve the annual budget and major projects at the memorial. The association is required to adhere to the historic nature of the monument. Two park board members would be voting members of the association’s board.

The sales tax that paid for restoration of the memorial raised $45 million. Of that, $15 million was set aside for future capital maintenance — and that endowment has grown to about $18 million.