LANSING, MICH. - The Vietnam Memorial monument located in the Veteran's Memorial Park in Lansing will soon undergo restoration. The planned facelift won't be finished before the annual November 11 commemoration of Veteran's Day though.

"The contractor knows the importance of working quickly," said Mr. Hugh Hess of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs in Michigan, "but with Veterans Day coming up next week, it is important to let the public know that the memorial will not look its best during the project."

Merz & Associates, L.L.C., of Detroit was selected to design and oversee the $400,000 project. The restoration includes repainting the monument's major design feature, improvements to the walkway surfaces, lighting fixtures, the historic timeline of the Vietnam War, and an updated alphabetical list of the casualties which will reflect the change in status of nine service members who were listed as missing in action, whose remains have been identified and returned since the memorial's dedication in November 2001. The project includes an innovative onsite scale model of the monument to assist the blind during a visit to the memorial.

The State's Administrative Board approved the maintenance and repair contract for the Michigan Vietnam Veterans Memorial Monument to Farmington based, Total Mechanical Construction, Inc. The company was identified by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as a "Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business."

A second unveiling ceremony is being planned for spring 2009, when the project is complete.

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