COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

The Shrine of Remembrance prides itself in its deep community involvement for the past thirty years. During this time we have given back to the Colorado Springs community and the Pikes Peak Region on numerous occasions. This has included creating and publicly dedicating numerous military and patriotic memorials at the Shrine of Remembrance Veterans Honor Court. Two of these memorials (the 50th Anniversary of World War II and the 50th Anniversary of the United States Air Force) are also prominently displayed in prestigious locations off the Shrine of Remembrance campus. The 50th Anniversary of WWII Memorial was dedicated and permanently placed at the Shrine of Remembrance Veterans Honor Court as well as at Arlington Nation Cemetery at the Trophy Room beside the Tomb of the Unknowns. The 50th Anniversary of the United States Air Force Memorial was also dedicated and permanently placed at the Veterans Honor Court as well as at the United States Air Force Academy Terrazzo shadowed by the Cadet Chapel and at the Peterson Air Force Base Museum. We also undertook the restoration of the deteriorated burial estate of the City’s Founder, General William Jackson Palmer, which is located at the historic Evergreen City Cemetery. While completing this restoration, General Palmer’s bronze Medal of Honor plaque was miraculously discovered inside a tool shed at the cemetery. The plaque had apparently never been installed at the burial estate. It was subsequently installed and the memorial estate was rededicated with a beautiful public ceremony organized and hosted by the Shrine of Remembrance.  The ceremony included a mounted color guard, people dressed in historic costumes and a twenty-one gun salute rendered with canons provided by Fort Carson.

Perhaps our proudest accomplishment is the creation and dedication of the “America the Beautiful” Centennial Memorial in 1993 celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the writing of the words of “America the Beautiful” by Katharine Lee Bates. The words of the anthem were written in Colorado Springs in 1893 following Bates historic journey to the summit of Pikes Peak. The Centennial Memorial was unveiled at the Fabulous Fourth Celebration, at Memorial Park, in Colorado Springs, on the Fourth of July, 1993 with a reported 85,000 people in attendance. In October of the same year it was permanently placed and dedicated at the summit of Pikes Peak, the site of the anthem's inspiration. 

In 2006, we were honored to construct and dedicate the second "America the Beautiful" Centennial Memorial to grace the grounds of the newly constructed City park in downtown Colorado Springs, at the foot of Pikes Peak. Prior to its completion, this park was named Confluence Park by the City Council and former Mayor. The park was re-named America the Beautiful Park due to the efforts of Costas Rombocos, CEO of the Shrine of Remembrance, capitalizing on Colorado Springs’ historic “America the Beautiful” legacy, which Mr. Rombocos considers to be the city’s most valuable asset. No expense was spared to make this an outstanding monument and a fitting tribute to "America the Beautiful" and its author Katherine Lee Bates who gave our country such a timeless anthem.