Calling for Reinforcements

More than two years have passed since the formation of a working group for Never Forget Park—formerly Tyler Pickett Memorial Park—and from the outside looking in it appears there has been little more progress than in the previous decade.

It’s not for lack of trying.

“I have written six grants and have a couple more in the works,” said Stacy Crimmins, who has been with the working group since its formation. “Unfortunately, (we) have not received any of those grants yet. It’s a little frustrating because, without some donations of some bigger money, this could drag on a lot longer.”

The idea for Never Forget Park began in 2008, shortly after the death of Staff Sergeant Tyler Pickett. A Saratoga High School graduate, Pickett was the only Carbon County resident to have died in the Iraq War. In 2009, the Town of Saratoga purchased property adjacent to Veterans Island for $110,000 for the future home of Tyler Pickett Memorial Park. Though there had been plenty of fundraising and a number of designs presented to the public over the years, the park hadn’t moved beyond being an empty lot. In the past two years, dirt has been moved and the dimensions of the park have been cordoned off, but little else has been done.

“I have a lot of love for the Valley and I want to make it a better place. I drive by that twice a day and it’s just not a place of pride and it could be,” said Crimmins. “It could be another asset to the Valley.”

Over the years, Never Forget Park has experienced a variety of setbacks including a lack of clarity on funds assigned to the park and vastly different designs.

“Previous councils had made designs and received numbers, but a lot of times the design of the park was really complicated. So this group, the council before and the current council paired down the design so that it was much more simple so that it could be more affordable,” said Crimmins. “When we were starting to finalize the design and starting to pull numbers together we were looking at $375,000.”

That number has ballooned to nearly $975,000. One of the primary culprits for this increase is asphalt which increased in price last year from $110 per ton to $150 per ton with nearly $200,000 budgeted for asphalt. The total amount for Phase 2 of the project, according to information provided by Crimmins, comes to nearly $630,000.

“Everything blew us out of the water knowing that the prices had gone up that much,” said Crimmins. “Unfortunately, what we had raised was not going to be enough.”

To date there is only about $416,000 in funding for the project. Approximately $180,000 of that is currently held in the Town of Saratoga’s WyoStar account.

Meanwhile, Crimmins has applied for grants from the AARP Community Challenge, Wyoming Community Foundation, HF Sinclair, the Laura Jane Musser Foundation, the T-Mobile Hometown Grant Program and the Land & Water Conservation Fund. So far, she’s batting zero-for-zero which is frustrating for Crimmins given her positive track record on grant writing. One example is the Platte Valley Public Art Project which included, among other pieces of art, a metal sculpture from Sierra Smith in memory of Tyler Pickett. The sculpture is planned to be erected at Never Forget Park, but currently sits at the Platte Valley Community Center.

“Almost all foundations have way more requests than money. In some cases, it didn’t fit the foundation’s area of focus,” said Crimmins. “What I’ve run into is that I’ve not been able to find a foundation or grant program that is specifically for this type of project, meaning memorial parks for veterans. That kind of surprised me.”

According to Crimmins, it’s been suggested she reach out to businesses such as Brush Creek Ranch or A Bar A—two resort ranches in the Platte Valley—about trying to make up the funding shortfall. She feels, however, there needs to be a personal reason for them to donate to the project rather than her requesting funding. Meanwhile, she has been attempting to market new ideas such as a “Purchase-A-Plate” program. Even with that program, said Crimmins, it wouldn’t be enough to get the park over the funding threshold.

“I have no idea how we can get this done without a lot more private support,” said Crimmins.

While there has been a lack of funding from public and private partnerships, there has been no lack of donations for material and labor, said Crimmins. This is a familiar refrain as, since the inception of the park, there have been offers of donating to the project from private individuals and organizations such as the National Guard and Boy Scouts of America. According to Crimmins, there are individuals who have wanted to donate funds to the park but are hesitant because of how long the project has languished in the planning stages.

Both Crimmins and Parsons, who are the only consistent members of the working group, are determined to see the project completed. Additionally, Angus England American Legion Post 54, of which Parsons is a member, is “100% on board with getting this done,” said Parson.

Only two consistent members is perhaps another hurdle for Never Forget Park as, over a 14 year period, council members have come and gone. None of the council which approved the formation of the working group in 2021 still serve. Mayor Chuck Davis and Councilmember Mike Cooley now work with Crimmins and Parsons on the project.

“I can’t make any decisions, I have no authority. Other projects have boards of directors or membership they can lean on,” said Crimmins. “We don’t have that, we could just use more help. Whether it’s people and resources or monetary.”

Until more help arrives, the park remains a landscape of grass and weeds and the sculpture in Pickett’s memory sits at its temporary home.