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INDEPENDENCE, Iowa — Plans for a monument honoring Sgt. Jim Smith are taking shape in northeast Iowa.

The Iowa State Patrol Sergeant was killed in a stand-off in Grundy Center last year. He was from Independence and served 27 years in the Iowa State Patrol.

The non-profit Mustang Foundation in Independence is now fundraising for a plaza that would pay tribute to Sgt. Smith and former football coach Lyle Leinbaugh. The plaza will be in front of the high school’s football field, named after Leinbaugh, and feature memorials for both men.

Rendering of plaza. (Courtesy: Mustang Foundation)

The Smith family is donating the funds for a mustang statue in the memorial section for Sgt. Smith.

The school district has also approved $50,000 of the 1-cent sales tax funds to go toward the plaza project. All other funds, estimated at $100,000, will be raised privately.

The goal is to have it finished by the start of class this fall.