Colorado Freedom Memorial plans to expand to share stories of fallen heroes

A noisy power washer rumbling as a volunteer cleans the glass wall wasn't not enough to deter Tim Beyers from visiting the place he finds much-needed comfort.

"It's a place to just come to have a little bit of peace," Beyers said.

After all, the noise is part of what's keeping the special place clean for an even more special person.

"My son, Nathan Ryan Beyers," he told CBS News Colorado, "he spent his tour in Iraq, and that's where he was (killed in action)."

Beyers' son was just 24 years old when he made the ultimate sacrifice in 2011. His name is etched on the Colorado Freedom Memorial in Aurora, a place his father visits regularly to remember and reflect.

"It's more of a peaceful place than the cemetery," Beyers said.

It is the same place for thousands of Colorado families to do the same for their fallen loved ones.

"The reason that I thought we needed to do it to begin with is the 6,218 names on the memorial," said Rick Crandall, executive director of the Colorado Freedom Memorial Foundation.

Crandall has poured more than two decades of his life into creating the memorial. This Memorial Day weekend will mark 10 years since his dream became a reality.

"Knowing what we've gone through in 10 years and the people that' have been here and what it's meant to people," Crandall said, holding his hand to his chest, "and we're still growing the place."

Part of that growth is getting rid of the gazebo on the south side of the property and, with city council's approval, replacing it with a two-story visitors' and education center. It would include classrooms and a 120-seat theater so the foundation can continue to tell the stories behind the names on the wall.

"Tens of thousands of people have come to visit, but the kids are always foremost on my mind," said Crandall. "We've had hundreds of school field trips here."

Crandall explained having an indoor facility will enhance the lessons for students -- and all visitors -- on service and sacrifice.

"We can have guest speakers, we can show films, we can do all kinds of stuff here," he said excitedly, showing the rendering of the proposed building. "It's going to have an exhibit hall in it and we have some remarkable pieces of history that will be shown here permanently. We already have steel from the Twin Towers, and we were recently given a piece of the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor."

The project is estimated to cost at least $6 million, Crandall explained adding the foundation has already received $1.5 million in funding support thanks to Democratic U.S. Rep. Jason Crow -- himself a veteran - and additional funds from private donors.

"If it goes like we hope, we'll be doing the earth work, preparing the site this fall," he said. "If we're as successful with fundraising as we hope we're going to be, next spring we could actually starting to build something."

For Beyers, the new building will be a beautiful addition, but perhaps nothing will mean as much as the wall where he can see his son's name and that of other Coloradans who won't be forgotten.

"Believe it or not, I still talk to some of them every now and then," Beyers said of the men and women listed on the glass memorial. "I think they all listen. They all hear us."

And this Memorial Day, there are two simple words they should hear us all say.

"Find a way this weekend to say 'thank you,'" Crandall said.

The visitor and education center proposal will go before Aurora City Council in June. City staff are also considering making the memorial its own city park to be appropriately named, "Memorial Park."

COLORADO FREEDOM MEMORIAL (and how to donate): https://coloradofreedommemorial.com/ 

A special Memorial Day celebration will take place Saturday, May 27 at the Colorado Freedom Memorial, marking its 10th anniversary. Presented by the City of Aurora and the Colorado Freedom Memorial Foundation, the event honors generations of Colorado's fallen veterans as well as those still serving today.

Festivities begin at 8 a.m. with a free pancake breakfast and performances, while the annual Remembrance Ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. Following the ceremony, the Memorial will be open to guided or self-guided tours and free roses will be available to lay at the Memorial.

While donations will be gratefully accepted, the entire day's events are free and open to the public.

The Colorado Freedom Memorial is located at Aurora's Springhill Park at 756 Telluride Street.