Veterans Plaza – Tualatin Parks

A Place of Honor and Reflection

Sitting on the east side of Tualatin Lake at the Commons, Veterans Plaza is a gentle monument to service that inspires reflection on the past and hope for the future. The plaza includes beautiful features such as a stone maze, reading circle, and basalt stone how much surrounding a calming reflection pool. With its shaded picnic tables and grassy seating area, Veterans Plaza is the perfect place to enjoy a quiet lunch on the lake.

Service-Inspired Art

Veterans Plaza includes three service-inspired sculptures: Wings of Peace, Wings of Freedom, and Flames of Honor. Each piece was crafted by sculptor Douwe Blumberg, who was chosen by the Veterans Plaza Service-Inspired Art Selection Committee after a careful review of 42 submissions from artists across the country.

History of the Plaza

The Parks and Recreation Master Plan, adopted in 2019, addressed the need for community conversation regarding the recognition of veterans, as part of a larger need to expand accessible and inclusive parks in Tualatin. In November of 2022, Tualatin voters approved a Parks & Trails Bond for new parks investments, and plans were begun for the construction of Veterans Plaza.

The planning and design of Veterans Plaza was guided by eight months of community outreach, with a focus on engaging the community to create a central vision for the memorial. During that time, information and feedback was gathered from community events, focus groups, and a Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SAC) to determine the core project themes and select the preferred site. Overwhelmingly, the Tualatin community steered the project in a direction of honoring veterans and military service members and reflecting on their sacrifice and service, as well as recognizing those who support them.

Veterans Plaza Brick Program

The Veterans Plaza Brick Program aims to provide a way of personally honoring the service of local community members by installing customized bricks into the plaza. These bricks can be ordered by filling out the Brick Order Form add link and returning it to the Juanita Pohl Center. Brick orders will be accepted throughout the year, and new bricks will be installed in the plaza every spring.