These leaders will be honored by the project which will be constructed in Chalan Kanoa across from the U.S. Post Office.
Yesterday, the courtyard project committee met to discuss the past and present leaders nominated for inclusion in the memorial courtyard.
Ramon B. Camacho, Saipan municipal council vice chairman, said the committee will “discreetly” review the nominees to avoid conflicts among the families involved.
The committee, he said, will work with different government agencies tasked to maintain the island’s historical records.
Camacho said the committee has yet to decide whether to include persons who held high position during the pre-commonwealth era.
“Right now we are getting a list of the names of village leaders, mayors and there’s a lot of them,” he said.
He said the Saipan leaders who will be recognized are divided into three categories — those from the naval administration, the Trust Territory and commonwealth eras.
Saipan Leadership Memorial Courtyard project consultant William Torres said the groundbreaking is scheduled for Sept. 24, at 9:30 a.m.
The office of Saipan mayor is tasked to prepare the site before the ceremony.
Torres said it will be a “historic event.”
“We want to focus on Chalan Kanoa which used to be the capital of Saipan and we want to bring that back,” he said during the committee meeting attended by courtyard project advisors Vicente T. Camacho, Frank M. Diaz, Historic Preservation Office representative John D. Palacios, Department of Land and Natural Resources Secretary Ignacio T. Dela Cruz, Saipan municipal council chairwoman Antonia Tudela, council member Felipe Q. Atalig, and council vice chairman Ramon B. Camacho.
The planning team also comprised officials from the Department of Public Works, the Zoning Office, Urban Forestry, and the Division of Environmental Quality.
Torres said the project’s phase 1 includes the construction of the parking lane, a sidewalk, perimeter lights and stormwater reserve.
This will begin later this year while phase 2, which covers the memorial courtyard, the gateway and other facilities, is targeted to begin early next year.
The courtyard, also known as the kios-ku project, is the first leadership memorial park to be constructed in the CNMI.
The park will highlight and recognize the contributions of past and present leaders of the island.
“Just as important to the group is a design that maintains the functionality of the kios-ku for public functions and make the entire facility environmentally friendly,” Torres said.
