An aging memorial to honor three fallen World War I veterans is inching closer to receiving a much-needed upgrade.

While visually not the centerpiece of Bellevue Downtown Park, a small concrete block with a plaque and flanked by memorial trees has been a fixture of the area since 1926.

But over the decades it has fallen into disrepair.

Bob Shay, a Bellevue resident and former Navy photographer, has been working for more than a year on the plan to update and restore the monument. After shuttling through multiple designs and countless meetings, Shay’s idea is up for approval, with a high likelihood of passing at the next meeting of the Bellevue Parks and Community Services Board, which will begin 6 p.m. March 13 at Bellevue City Hall.

“There’s a few details that need to be worked out, but basically we are good to go,” said Glen Kost, planning and development manager of Bellevue parks.

Shay said he will be responsible for funding the project.

Shay’s concept, which is the second one he has presented, involves a bronzed, folded American flag, draped over the monument. The flag will be topped by bronzed roses. Shay said he hasn’t decided some of the details – like whether or not the flag replica should be painted red, white and blue, or left bronze. He plans to hire a design team once the process is approved.

It will be surrounded by a circular cobblestone base and likely include an interpretive sign that will tell the stories of the three men: Victor Freed, Victor Hanson and Oscar Johnson, all of whom died in World War I. Newspaper reports from the time say that Freed died of Typhoid and Hanson was killed in action, while reports of Johnson’s death weren’t readily available.

The Bellevue School District in conjunction with the Bellevue Minute Women put together the original monument, a cement slab with a plaque featuring the names of the men, and phrase “lest we forget.” The Minute Women honored the men who “made the supreme sacrifice in the world war,” according to the plaque, on Armistice Day, Nov. 11, 1926.

The ceremony, which came several years after the Minute Women planted three elm trees in an area owned by the Bellevue School District at the time, was widely heralded by local media.

On that day the U.S. flag was raised 65 feet high in honor of the men.

When Shay began this process, he didn’t see a lot of enthusiasm from the park board because of the design. He proposed a “Doughboy” statue – an image of an American soldier.

“When I first presented I couldn’t understand why people didn’t just say, ‘we have to do this because the monument is crumbling,'” Shay said. “People aren’t as fast to act as I am.”

Shay said he would like to have the new memorial open by July 4, but he has been told the timeline is too aggressive. A date of Nov. 11, the anniversary of the original dedication, is more of a possibility, he said.

The Eastside Heritage Center is helping Shay put the story together. Heather Trescases, executive director, said the goal is to make sure that the original spirit of the memorial remains intact.

“We just wanted to make sure that we are honoring the intent and the history, and in this case, it does,” she said.