NEWPORT BEACH : Extra Plaques Delay Bill of Rights Salute

The committee working on the installation of a commemorative flagpole to mark the bicentennial of the Bill of Rights may not have the project ready in time for the anniversary Dec. 15.

The city’s Bicentennial Committee met this week to discuss an altered plan that may cost more and may push the finish date back a couple weeks.

Councilwoman Ruthelyn Plummer, a committee member, said the group will likely add two additional plaques around the base of the flagpole that will name the City Council members and Bicentennial Committee members.

Although adding the plaques may take extra time, Plummer said the project’s delay was due mostly to problems the committee has had in ordering the pole. She added that the group is still trying to meet the Dec. 15 date, and has not yet set an alternative opening date.

Originally, the base was to contain 10 plaques, one for each of the original amendments to the U.S. Constitution, before the group decided to include the other two plaques.

The rest of the marker will be built as planned, with an 80-foot flagpole towering over Peninsula Park at the entrance to the Balboa Pier.

The original price for the complete monument was estimated at $30,000 with the city contributing $15,000 and the Bicentennial Committee seeking donations for the other half.