The World War One Centennial Commission has announced the five final designs for a planned memorial in Pershing Park.

Congress authorized the memorial last year for the 1.8 acre park, which is located at Pennsylvania Avenue NW and 14th Street NW. It is meant to honor the 4.7 million Americans who served in the war, including the 116,516 who died, and would join the nearby memorials of three other wars on the National Mall.

Still, the choice of Pershing Park has proved somewhat controversial. Charles Birnbaum, of the Cultural Landscape Foundation, is among those calling for the M. Paul Friedberg-designed park to be protected or at least incorporated into the new design.

“By what criteria are the value and significance of this unique, National Register-eligible collaboration by three influential practitioners being assessed? And, is this process being steered towards a false choice: Either approve demolition of the original design or do not build a new World War I Memorial,” he wrote in a recent op-ed.

But proponents of the project say the park has fallen into disrepair and it is time to give it new life. The stated objective of the competition is “to transform Pershing Park from a park that happens to contain a memorial to a site that is primarily a national World War I memorial, within a revitalized urban park setting with a distinct sense of place that complements the memorial purpose while attracting visitors, workers, and residents of the District of Columbia.”

The final designs were winnowed down from a pool of more than 350 submissions to the open competition. The winner will be announced in January.