BRECKSVILLE, Ohio - A proposed commercial redevelopment of the former 103-acre U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospital at Brecksville and Miller roads would include a memorial park, under an agreement among the city, the VA and Ohio's State Historic Preservation Office.

The park would commemorate the site as a former VA hospital and would include a flagpole, monuments representing each military branch, a plaque with a brief history of the property and a walking trail leading to the park.

Also, all or part of the Brecksville VA property would be listed on the National Register of Historic Places as an example of a post-World War II veterans' hospital, the agreement says.

The hospital was built in 1959 and 1960 and dedicated in 1961.

City Council recently gave Mayor Jerry Hruby authority to enter into the agreement.

"We committed that an area of the property will be selected to provide a very prominent monument honoring the brave men and women who served our nation, and those who were trusted in some way with all phases of their care," Hruby said in an email to cleveland.com.

Hruby said the park will also honor military members who are still missing in action and the VA police. The park will include a monument to VA police officers Mark Decker and Leonard Wilcox, who were killed on duty on the hospital campus in January 1986.

Last week, council placed on first reading a resolution that would allow the city, after years of negotiations, to accept the deed for the VA property from the federal government.

Also last week, the city announced that it was close to choosing DiGeronimo Development LLC in Independence to redevelop the site into a multiple-use center that might include stores, restaurants, apartments, hotels, a hospital, manufacturing plants, warehouses, offices and laboratories.

The VA has determined that transferring the property makes it subject to the National Historic Preservation Act, meant to preserve historical and archaeological sites throughout the country, according to the agreement among the city, the VA and the State Historic Preservation Office.

The memorial park would mitigate any negative effects of the proposed commercial development on the historical site, the agreement says.

Meanwhile, the VA will keep offsite any records - including photos, site plans, maps, construction drawings and written narratives - of the former Brecksville hospital.

Hruby said the memorial park has not been designed yet and its precise location hasn't been determined. The city and DiGeronimo Development would share the cost.