After the Collier County Board of Commissioners endorsed the idea of building the Freedom Memorial, a wide appeal was made to artists to submit proposals for a memorial design that reflected American freedom and values. The Freedom Memorial Committee used the actual World Trade Center Memorial as a model to develop guidelines for our own, local competition.  By the January 31, 2005 deadline, 32 design proposals were submitted to the Freedom Memorial Committee.  Entries were received from local artists and from artists across the United States.  Members of an independent jury panel reviewed the eligible, anonymous submissions and selected three finalists.  This jury’s recommendations were then forwarded to the Collier County Board of Commissioners who made the final selection.  The Board selected the design of artist Gerald A. Ladue, who had recently moved to Naples from Massachusetts.