SANGER – The city of Sanger is working to build a place for residents to gather and reflect on the contributions of area military veterans.
City officials invited the community out to Veterans Park on May 6 for a “sneak peek” at the design plans for the Veterans Memorial Plaza and other park improvements. With the development of the memorial plaza, Mayor Frank Gonzalez said he hopes the park will become a centerpiece in eastern Fresno County, where veterans who may not have something similar in their own communities can take pride in.
“Old veterans like myself and the city manager, … we like to come and reminisce about our military days, and it’ll be a good place to hold ceremonies and just come and reflect basically on the past veterans that have lost their lives in the line of duty,” Mayor Frank Gonzalez said.
He added that the memorial can also serve as a space for individuals currently serving in the military who are “still carrying that grief, hopefully this could be a good spot for them to come and reflect upon their military service.”
A tentative timeline for the memorial has construction beginning this fall and wrapping up in mid to late 2026. At the sneak peek, City Manager Nathan Olson explained the concept for the memorial plaza based on a conceptual drawing provided by Fresno-based landscape architecture firm Designlab 252.
Stemming from the southwest corner of the park at the intersection of Jensen Avenue and Indianola Avenue will be a prominent “Veterans Memorial Plaza” sign and a centered star-shaped monument that will hold the American flag.
Beyond the centered star, flagpoles for each service branch will be represented. In front of the flagpoles will be monument walls containing tributes and placards about the branch of service. Olson said all around the plaza will be concrete walkways, greenery and flowers and a gazebo-like covered patio area.
While not all of the details have been determined yet, Olson said the city and council are open to creating opportunities for community members to purchase something like a brick or plaque to commemorate their own loved ones. That opportunity could also extend to veterans from neighboring communities.
“A vet out of Sanger is as good as a vet out of Parlier, so if they have family that wants to honor them, I think it’d be a great place to do it,” Olson said.
Gonzalez said the city is also partnering with the Sanger Woman’s Club and Col. Cesar Gonzalez of the Air National Guard’s 144th Fighter Wing. The Woman’s Club has dedicated money to plant a garden at the memorial plaza, and Cesar Gonzalez is working to facilitate the placement of an aircraft tail flash at the memorial.
“Basically, it’s the tail of a jet, and so we can have that with their flash on there for the 144th, but we could also put the emblem of the city of Sanger on there,” Frank Gonzalez said.
The first phase of Veterans Park was completed in 2019 and included the addition of restrooms, a playground, a picnic area, a parking lot with electric vehicle chargers and landscaping. According to Sanger’s engineering consultant Yamabe and Horn, the park space was first dedicated to the city in 2006 with the building of the nearby subdivision; however, due to funding constraints, development of the park was split into phases.
Sanger received a $1 million grant from the Clean California Local Grant Program in October 2023 to construct the second phase of the park, which will include the memorial plaza with additional seating areas and landscaping.
“It should be a really nice centerpiece for the city, and it’s going to really be a nice entryway coming into town,” Olson said. “So really just a good place to gather, hang out and reminisce and talk with family. It should bring a lot of people together — we’re really hoping it does, and it’ll be a great addition; this is a great park.”
