This beautiful and moving memorial park is located on the northernmost end of downtown Huntsville,…read morejust off I-565. I've been there several times, and it's never crowded and parking is not a problem. I've taken Mom there several times, and she uses a "wheelie" walker, and we use the handicapped parking spots right up front when we take Mom.
I learned so much about the park from the
American Legion's website (for some reason the actual Huntsville/Madison county Veteran's memorial park website is currently down) https://www.legion.org/memorials/241757/huntsville-madison-county-alabama-veterans-memorial.
For example I didn't know the bronze statues' models were actual Madison County combat Veterans. Nor did I know the right portal leading to the Alabama flag is a time capsule in which Veterans have placed personal artifacts, letters, and items reminiscent of their service and the wars they fought. It will be disinterred on November 11, 2062.
The Patriot's Walkway is extensive, too and features the Aviator Statue, sculpted by local artist Dan Burch and modeled after Marine Captain James 'Trey" Wilbourn, III, Huntsville only Persian Gulf War casualty. It also features the 8 ft., 3 ton Revolutionary War Monument, dedicated to the 84 Revolutionary War soldiers who are buried in Madison County, which was relocated to the Huntsville Veterans Memorial park in October 2016.
The Gold Star Families Memorial Monument was installed in Sept. 2020, developed by Herschel "Woody" Williams, one side of the monument states "Gold Star Families Memorial Monument, a tribute to Gold Star Families and Relatives," and the other side features a 4-panel story, with panels titled "Homeland, Family, Patriot and Sacrifice."
Legacy Walkway Brick Pavers are available for purchase for 100.00 for 3 lines of engraving. I've purchased two of those and the process is so simple, and the staff who process these purchases is on top of it - you receive email updates and top notch paperwork including the exact location of the brick paver and a nice, suitable for framing certificate for the recipient's family. It's 2.00 to have the certificate mailed via USPS.
The park opened in Nov. 2011 and I'm proud of the city of Huntsville's dedication to maintaining the park. The first issue in the news was the amount of typos on the early brick pavers that were installed. This was rectified. Around Christmas 2014, vandals put graffiti on the timeline wall and drove a 4-wheeler across the park, damaging the capstone. This vandalism resulted in the city of Huntsville installing security cameras in the park. Last month, around St. Patrick's Day, someone filled the main fountain with bubble bath. Kudos to the city for fixing all these issues.
This park does not have picnic tables, however, there are some places to sit and plenty of nearby restaurants. I hope you will visit! It truly is a beautiful, moving place with plenty of interesting displays to explore, or just a quick trip to the main fountain area.