NEAH BAY – A veterans park overlooking the waterfront on Neah Bay will be formally dedicated May 17, about nine months from original plans.
“We just ran out of time,” said Edward Claplanhoo, who donated the land and has overseen the construction.
Once the months of cold and bad weather have passed, construction will resume.
“We’ll finish up in April and then we’ll make it look real nice for the dedication,” Claplanhoo said.
The longhouse on the property has some more work to be done on the inside, including some displays of the Makah language and history.
Plans were to have the dedication in September, but delays put that date back.
“Getting those things completed would have put us into bad weather, and instead of having bad weather for the opening we decided to look for it in the spring,” Claplanhoo said.
The Fort Núñez Gaona-Diah Veterans Park, which will overlook Wadah Island in Neah Bay, will consist of six large cedar columns and resemble a traditional Makah longhouse.
It already bears the flags of the United States, Spain, the Makah tribe, Washington state, the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations of Canada and each branch of the United States military.
The flags were raised during Makah Days in late August.
