A 13-member committee led by Rochester Downtown Alliance Director Jon Eckhoff is reviewing potential sites for a Minnesota Veterans Museum.
The group was assembled within the last month, after museum proponents made a presentation to the City Council. Proponents hope for a site within walking distance of the veterans memorial at Soldiers Field Park, and earlier proposed a site replacing the park's west ball field.
Eckhoff said the group will develop a weighting system to assess potential museum sites. Criteria will include proximity to the veterans memorial, lot size, how easily the site might be acquired, and how much outdoors space would be available.
"Our job is not to determine the viability (of the museum idea), or size, or how it will operate," he said. "We'd like a (site) recommendation by the end of the year, if everything goes well."
Members of the site committee include Park Board member Mike Quinn and former mayor Chuck Canfield.
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It also includes Tom Hosier, from the group that presented the museum proposal; Frank Hawthorne, a neighbor of Soldiers Field; and Jay Hesley, assistant vice chancellor of the University of Minnesota–Rochester, which also has development plans in the area around Soldiers Field.
The committee meetings are not open to the public.
