(AP) — The man leading efforts to build a memorial honoring Dwight D. Eisenhower says conflicts about the design shouldn’t derail the effort.

Speaking Thursday at the Dole Institute in Lawrence, Retired Brig. Gen. Carl Reddel said “it’s about time that we do this.”

Lawmakers have questioned the project’s design and cost. And some members of the 34th president’s family have called for it to be redesigned.

The 14-year-old project is planned for a site on the National Mall near the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. Planners could lose that space soon without an extension from Congress.

For more than a year, the memorial’s design by architect Frank Gehry has been criticized by some for its approach to memorial architecture. Others have praised it for its innovative elements.