Plan for Rose Garden Becomes a Thorny Issue in Norwalk

Plans for a memorial rose garden behind Norwalk City Hall have drawn unexpected concern from some veterans in the city.

Project designers hope to wrap up negotiations with veterans over the size and location of the garden in time for the city’s annual Veterans Day ceremony Nov. 11. But to the chagrin of some groups, city officials refuse to compromise on just who should participate.

Members of the local American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars say that the city should accept donations only on behalf of city veterans or their families.

“We feel there should be some Norwalk connection, at least a family living here,” said Dona O’Donnell, a member of the American Legion Auxiliary and the city’s Bicentennial American Heritage Commission, a liaison group that is helping to publicize the garden.

But city officials point out that donors will only be listed on pamphlets distributed during special ceremonies. They said they will continue to accept contributions from--and print the name of--anyone who wants to donate to the garden.

City Hall has long been the site of Veterans Day ceremonies in Norwalk. The lawn near the back parking lot is already home to three large memorial planters dubbed Freedom Square. Some veterans say the garden is an opportunity to replace several rosebushes that were planted by the auxiliary at a park elsewhere in the city in memory of Norwalk’s World War II veterans. That garden withered in recent years, and its memorial plaque was transferred to City Hall.

City management assistant Theresa Devoy said a plaque that will accompany the garden should help appease some critics of the project.

“It’s not going to be some rinky-dink thing that you’re going to overlook if you walk through the park,” she said.