Project begins to create monument to peacemakers.

Byline: Tim Christie The Register-Guard

There is no path to peace, Mahatma Gandhi said. Peace is the path.

With that thought in mind, a group of Eugene residents is embarking on ambitious plans to build a winding monument to peacemakers at Alton Baker Park.

They unveiled plans Wednesday to build the Nobel Peace Laureate Monument to honor the peacemaking deeds of Americans - 19 individuals and three groups - who have received the prestigious international award.

The idea for such a monument came to John Attig of Eugene, a 69-year-old retired high school teacher, when he realized that while nearly every community has at least one war memorial, he wasn't aware of any monuments to the peacemakers.

"We want deeds of peacemaking to be publicized," he said, "and maybe inspire other people to make peace."

Most people have heard of prize-winners Theodore Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter, Henry Kissinger and Martin Luther King Jr., Attig said. Less well-known are American prize recipients such as Emily Balch, John Mott, Jodie Williams and Norman Baulaug. Linus Pauling, a native Oregonian and one of the great scientists of the 20th century, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962 for his opposition to nuclear weapons testing.

That's why education will be an important component of the memorial, Attig said.

The monument is to be located in a grassy area off the north end of the DeFazio foot bridge. Attig said the Eugene Parks and Open Space Division has been supportive of the project.

The winning design for the project, by Presentation Design Group of Eugene, includes a winding path about 150-feet long, trimmed with a serpentine 30-inch high wall made of stacked basalt stones. In the center of the path will be a 30-by-24-foot alcove for contemplation. A series of 11 pillars along the path will feature plaques describing the deeds of the prize winners, the year they were awarded the prize, and a quotation.

The estimated cost to build the project is $400,000, which includes construction costs, a one-time maintenance fee to the city of Eugene, and money to pay teachers to write a peace curriculum for the project. Attig said that his group plans to raise funds and be able to complete the project by next year.

Realizing that some of the prize winners are controversial, Attig has obtained letters of endorsement from Mayor Kitty Piercy, former mayors Jim Torrey and Ruth Bascom, the City Club and the Convention and Visitors Association of Lane County. Three of the five living Nobel laureates also have sent endorsements, he said.

MEMORIAL PATHWAY

For information on the Nobel Peace Laureate Monument:

Go to www.nobelpeace monument.org; call 686-1027; e-mail [e-mail]; or write to: Nobel Peace Laureate Monument Committee, 2335 Terrace View Drive, Eugene, OR 97405