Plans in the works to upgrade Children’s Memorial

The log in the middle of South Lake Tahoe that honors the children from this area who have died is rotting. There is a movement afoot to replace it and make changes to the Children’s Memorial at the corner of Highway 50 and Wildwood Avenue.

Kenny Curtzwiler, whose son died in 2010, would like to turn the site into a memorial park. He is working with a group to get this done by Aug. 9 – the date his son died.

The memorial now honors 240 children. It has existed since 1994. The 1991 car accident that claimed Sue Hrbacek’s son and two of his friends was the inspiration to get the memorial built.

While the city is all for replacing the log, to do more than that requires formal proposals that the Curtzwiler group has not brought to staff or council. The land is public property.

There is a movement to make the Children’s Memorial more of a park. Photo/LTN

A public works contract might be required.

“There is no project proposed other than to replace the log,” City Manager Nancy Kerry told the council this month.

The discussion came up as the council members formally became the board of directors of Great Ideas for Tahoe. GIFT was formed in 2001 by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department as a way to accept money from people who wanted to give money to a specific entity or create a memorial. With changes to that department, it was time to change the leadership.

The GIFT fund may become the vehicle to collect money for the children’s memorial so people would have a means to write a check that would be tax deductible.

More info about memorial park is online.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report