Moore Memorial ceremony Thursday

COEUR d’ALENE — When the Sgt. Greg Moore Memorial is completed this year, its waters will run deeper than the splashing falls and gurgling fountains reveal.

Groundbreaking for the first phase of the K27 Memorial project at McEuen Park is set for 5:30 p.m. Thursday. What follows is two months of digging and building a series of waterfalls that will feed three pools on a knoll at the park’s Fourth Street entrance.

Each of the falls and pools represents sentiments — the emotional ties that a community has for its guardians.

“There will be three waterfalls,” Coeur d’Alene Mayor Steve Widmyer said. “Remember, honor and respect.”

The $330,000 cost, about half the estimated price of the entire memorial project, is also its most noteworthy phase, Widmyer said.

“It’s going to be a significant part of the memorial,” Widmyer said. “And really the most important one, honoring Greg Moore,”

Coeur d’Alene Police Department Sgt. Greg Moore was killed in the line of duty in 2015. The project, which is slated for several phases and will memorialize all fallen law enforcement officers, began as a community effort and is being paid with private donations.

That says a lot, said Christie Wood, a former Coeur d’Alene police sergeant and one of the project organizers.

“I think it is a reflection on a community that cares about its public servants, and the loss of life of a man who worked to keep them safe,” Wood said.

Although several large donations were received, Widmyer said a significant chunk of the work will be paid with smaller contributions including donations in the $27 range — symbolizing Moore’s K27 badge number.

“Everything from $2 to several thousand dollars,” Wood said.

Once the entire project is completed it will include a stream that winds southeast toward Tubbs Hill from the main waterfalls and the quiet pools. But the first phase, built by Clearwater Summit and set to be finished in November, is the heart of the memorial.

“It’s a place for Greg’s children to go and be with their dad,” Wood said. “And everyone at the police department who has felt this profound loss, they can go there as well.”

Volunteers, including public officials working in an unofficial capacity, and the Panhandle Parks Foundation, a nonprofit that funds unique projects that fall outside city budgets or guidelines, were the backbone of the project, Wood said.

“We’re just grateful that this happened,” Wood said, “that people stepped up and donated.”

Tomorrow’s groundbreaking will be the culmination of two years of planning and fundraising.

“It makes a statement in Coeur d’Alene that we’re committed to law enforcement and making sure we always remember the sacrifice of Greg Moore,” Widmyer said.

The Panhandle Parks Foundation invites community members to continue to donate toward additional amenities including benches, landscaping and lighting. For project information and to donate, visit K27forever.com.