The Mount Soledad cross is getting spruced up in time for Memorial Day with the help of several local volunteers and companies who have donated their services.

The 29-foot cross is in need of a good scrubbing and some fresh paint after years of wear and weathering, said Bob Mulrooney, the Executive Director at Mount Soledad Veterans Memorial Association.

The iconic symbol and its base, which anchors the Mt. Soledad National Veterans Memorial and has stood since 1954, will be water and sand blasted, patched and sanded before it is painted. The cross is currently covered with scaffolding in preparation for the work.

“The Memorial has become such an important part of the San Diego community, and we’re just delighted it will have a new shine to it for our annual Memorial Day event,” said Mulrooney.


This year’s celebration, scheduled for May 30 at 2 p.m., will honor President Theodore Roosevelt and the keynote speaker will be Captain Craig Clapperton, who is the commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt which now calls San Diego its home.

At least seven local companies have donated their services and expertise for the renovation.

“This is just another example of the tremendous public support we have gotten,” Mulrooney said.

The memorial honors 4,200 service members living and deceased from the Revolutionary War to the present and draws 70,000 visitors a year.


The cross has been the subject of a decades-long lawsuit between those who want to keep it at its current location and others who argued that a religious symbol on public land violated the separation between church and state.

Just last year the federal government, which owned the land the cross sits on, sold the plot to the non-profit Mt. Soledad Memorial Association, however, the deal is still under scrutiny.