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August 2023 by Carlos G.
Nice clean facility with an outdoor area as well ....definitely liked the monument outside of the rifle and boots ...not sure if it's rentable to the general public but if so it would be a great place for an event/reception.
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January 2023 by American L.
Hello, old friend Lafayette Veterans Memorial Center, I've come to visit with you again. Feel the old familiar feelings of patriotism. What!? It's now a library. Where is Lafayette Veterans Memorial Center? New location of here we discovered. Very different from the original Lafayette Veterans Memorial Building I was far more familiar with. Now nestled into a hillside on a narrow strip of land, the new, then $7.8 million, 9,000 square foot Lafayette Veterans Memorial Building was dedicated on 30 May 2005.Here there are flags from all the US Armed Forces, some military memorabilia, some military and Veterans plaques, a Blue Star Memorial plaque from the Lafayette Garden Club, and a Viet Nam Memorial plaque. It is far less of a Veterans Memorial and far more of a place for private events --albeit events that fund the mortgage, maintenance and upkeep of the building and grounds.After WWI and II, America's Veterans were often honored by their communities with buildings whose purpose was to host meetings of Veterans organizations such as the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and social gatherings for returning Veterans. Scattered throughout the nation, these Veterans' halls were often centrally located."Financed by State bond money the original Lafayette Veterans Memorial Building was first located at the SE corner of Mt. Diablo Boulevard and First Street and constructed during the period 1938-1939 as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. Much of the interior finish labor was provided by Lafayette American Legion Post 517 members. The building was dedicated by that Post in mid-1939."Lafayette and Walnut Creek, located next to each other in Contra Costa County, both had old Veterans' halls located on prime parcels in their down-towns. The buildings were dilapidated and in disrepair, with uneven floors, leaky roofs and seismic hazards.For many years, Veterans in both communities complained, unsuccessfully, often and loudly about these deficiencies and sought financial assistance from Contra Costa County, which owned the buildings.The old Veterans halls sat on parcels that were critically important to both cities' long-term redevelopment efforts. Negotiators worked for months to work out a cost-splitting arrangement for a new facility. In January 2004, Contra Costa County and the cities of Lafayette and Walnut Creek announced plans to construct a new Veterans' Memorial Building in Lafayette. The original Lafayette Veterans Memorial Center and the Walnut Creek Veterans Hall were demolished.Once the new location was complete Contra Costa County vested title of original property to City of Lafayette. The old Veterans building was immediately razed. Construction of a new library building was completed in 2006 on the old siteA Historical Marker identifies the original Veterans Memorial Building location at 1201 Locust Street, Walnut Creek, CA. Walnut Creek now has its Veterans Memorial Plaza.On this day in history 30 January 1945 - occurred the largest rescue in American history, The Raid at Cabanatuan, also known as The Great RaidUS Army Rangers, Scouts and Filipino guerrillas executed a flawless rescue of 489 prisoners of war and 33 civilians, while suffering four Americans killed in action (two commandos and two prisoners) and four wounded, from notorious Camp Cabanatuan north of Manila, Philippines. A group of over a hundred US Rangers, US Philippine Army Scouts and several hundred guerrillas traveled 30 miles (48 km) behind Japanese lines to reach the camp. The Philippine Scouts was a military organization of the United States Army from 1901 until after the end of World War II 2 September 1945. In a nighttime raid, under the cover of darkness and a distraction by a P-61 Black Widow, the first US aircraft designed to locate and destroy enemy aircraft at night and in bad weather, the group surprised the Japanese forces in and around the camp. Hundreds of Japanese troops were killed in the 30-minute coordinated attack. The GIs escorted the POWs back to American
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December 2020 by Paul LeBrett
We have our train collectors association meetings they're almost every month The place is very clean The young lady whose services the place is very kind and I really enjoy the location
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December 2019 by Michael Weisenberg
Clean building, good location, close to the freeway
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December 2019 by O M
Great meeting facility
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December 2019 by Ernesto Javier
Great place
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December 2019 by Rusty Thomason
We love this place it's going to be a venue for our daughter's wedding. The location is great and the price is even better. Elaine the person in charge of the place is great and easy to work with.
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December 2019 by SteveLand789
It's a good place to host events such as graduation parties or stuff like that
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December 2019 by Jeff Pizzagoni
Use to go here annually for the Marine Corp sponsored all-u-can-eat crab for a good cause.
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December 2018 by Thomas Rusk
They could have given us more room than they did
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December 2018 by Kevin P.
A very nice memorial.
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December 2018 by Beverly Woods
Wonderful venue
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December 2018 by Bruce Hall
Nice modern facility with very high wood beam ceiling. Parking is convenient and it appears the capacity is 200 to 300 seated. Looks perfect for a big wedding reception or similar.
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December 2018 by Camille King
Really nice conference rooms in a beautiful building with excellent staff. The acoustics are not good.
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December 2018 by fran mc
Very nice new center for meetings and events. Veterans memorial has been recently dedicated in memory of local service members lost since 9/11/2001.
