United Nations Peace Plaza (Independence, Missouri) United Nations Peace Plaza (Independence, Missouri) The United Nations Peace Plaza in Independence, Missouri was unveiled on October 27, 1997, formally dedicated by U.N. General Secretary Kofi Annan on April 25, 2003, and is described by its creators as "the only memorial in the world to those persons serving in the Peacekeeping Forces of the United Nations". The 12.5-foot statue is named "Girl with Dove" by its sculptor, Tom Corbin, and in 2003, a four-foot miniature was gifted to the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. On 11 December 2006, after his final speech as Secretary-General, delivered at the
Headquarters of the United Nations Apartments across First Avenue from the Zeckendorf site. The city, in turn, spent $5 million on clearing the land. While the United Nations had dreamed of constructing an independent city for its new world capital, multiple obstacles soon forced the organization to downsize their plans. They ultimately decided to build on Rockefeller's East River plot, since the land was free and the land's owners were well known. The diminutive site on the East River necessitated a Rockefeller Center-type vertical complex, thus, it was a given that the Secretariat would be housed in a tall office tower. During daily meetings from