The City of St. Louis Board of Public Service Soldiers Memorial Commission on July 17 approved the March 20, 2025 meeting minutes and received an operations update reporting increased attendance, a new cleanup partnership and a schedule of exhibits and public events through the end of 2025.

Commission Chair Linnea Magnusson opened the virtual meeting and called for approval of the March 20 minutes; the motion and second carried with all members voting in favor. Mark Sunlow, who gave the operations update, said attendance through the first half of 2025 is “about 12,000 people,” up from roughly 10,000 in each of the previous two years and “about a 16% increase.”

The increase in visitors comes alongside several programmatic changes at Soldiers Memorial. Sunlow said the site has entered “a partnership with Easterseals for weekly cleanup of the Court of Honor,” which he described as a recurring Friday volunteer effort. He also summarized recent and upcoming exhibits: the Ghost Army exhibit closed May 26 after drawing more than 16,000 visitors between September and May; the Tuskegee Airmen: America’s Freedom Flyers exhibit opened on Juneteenth and will remain on display through November 2; and a photo-based exhibit titled Two Minutes to Midnight will open on Veterans Day, November 11, and run into January.

Sunlow outlined public programming tied to those exhibits and the downtown events calendar. He said Soldiers Memorial hosted a well-attended Memorial Day program of roughly 300 people, ran a “chill room” and documentary screenings during the city’s Bridal Fest (drawing about 250 visitors per festival day), and will offer two August matinees — a Tuskegee Airmen documentary on Aug. 10 and the feature film The Six Triple Eight on Aug. 24. He also asked commissioners to promote an upcoming Wall That Heals visit: the commission will provide a free breakfast and bus to Jefferson Barracks County Park for the Wall That Heals opening; the replica will be open through Sunday afternoon at that location.

Commissioner Judith Hances noted community outreach: she proposed bringing the MEC Forever Young Club to the Tuskegee exhibit and said she will follow up by email. Sunlow said the commission’s traveling banner shows — short, pull-up displays derived from larger exhibits — continue to be circulated to libraries, city buildings and other venues to raise awareness of Soldiers Memorial programming.

On collections, Sunlow reported that material donated by the late Tom Gilmore has been approved by the Board of Public Service for inclusion in the Soldiers Memorial collection; he said the items document both Gilmore’s military service and his long involvement with the commission.

Logistics and partnerships also came up. Sunlow described how Ameren helped bring the Wall That Heals organizers into contact with Jefferson Barracks after downtown locations were deemed unsuitable. Commissioners discussed possible additional banner-hosting sites — suggestions included the St. Louis Records Center and Scott Air Force Base — and the group identified Colonel Ben Johnson (described at the meeting as director of operations for Mayor Spencer) as a potential contact for outreach at Scott AFB.

The meeting ended with a motion to adjourn, which passed unanimously. Chair Magnusson closed the meeting and thanked staff for the report.