Pillars of the Community: Lafayette Monument Conundrum

Community leaders are deciding how best to preserve a monument at Arapahoe Road and U.S. 287 in Lafayette, sparking a lively debate among BoCo residents (who never shy from lively debates).

The Road of Remembrance Gateway monument, built in 1928 to welcome home WWI veterans, needs to be moved from its current location, where it’s a hazard for drivers and being eroded by increasingly heavy traffic. That would cost between $450,000 and $700,000, and no one can agree on where the money should come from or where the monument should go.

At a public forum attended by about 30 community members earlier this year, it seemed clear most people don’t want the pillars to be moved out of East County.

“Boulder has everything!” one community member joked after someone suggested it move to the Pearl Street Mall. “Let’s keep something for us.”