KMOV - As Chris Coleman awaits trial for the murders of his wife and two sons, work moves forward on a lasting memorial to the Coleman family.
On Tuesday, one of Sheri Coleman's best friends went before a Columbia, Illinois city planning commission to push that plan.
In a little more than six months, friends of the victims have raised more than 30-thousand dollars in hope of building a structure measuring 51 ft. in diameter. The number 51 is symbolic of the combined ages of mother Sheri and sons Garett and Gavin when they died.
Sheri's friends' goal is to raise $300,000 with the hope the memorial really won't cost that much.
Meegan Turnbeaugh told a city commission Tuesday that she's heard from companies offering free materials and labor.
All she's asking the city to do is allow for a spot in a park for the memorial to stand.
"Currently we just had a concept behind it and were just trying to raise funds. Now they can look at it, try to find out where they're going to place the memorial and then we can find out how much more money we need to raise to get this done," Turnbeaugh says.
The city, while not putting taxpayer money toward the project, is supportive of creating a memorial in a park.
While there's no timetable for the memorial going from concept to reality, Turnbeaugh says she and others will see it through.
