However, the Committee was not 100% happy with either of the submission and, as such, the two winners were then instructed to further refine their two proposals, being told to make them to take into consideration that "the monument, in terms of its expressiveness, should represent the past, the present and the future". When both Sabolić and Mitrović's monuments were brought back for a second consideration a few months later, it was the proposal by Sabolić that eventually won the final prize. This winning entry was an enlarged architrave bearing relief sculptures sitting upon two pointed columns, which then would lead up a set of grand stairs to an angular geometric monolith aimed towards the sky (Photos 3a & 3b). However, due to budgetary constraints, the Committee felt Sabolić's winning monument was looking to be too expensive of a proposal. As a result, the Committee asked Sabolić to put forward some new monument proposals for the Bubanj project. In the winter of 1961, Sabolić offered the committee three new sculptural design concepts. Of these three designs offered by Sabolić, one of them was of three large fists sculptures bursting from the ground (Photo 3c), in addition to a scaled-down version of the memorial wall. The 'fist' sculpture concept was ultimately the concept chosen by the Committee's selection jury. During the remainder of that winter of 1962, Sabolić worked on refining his design with architects Josip Frankol and Ante Lozica, along with landscape architect Andjel Rotkvić (Photo 4). Initial construction began on the monument project the following spring in April of 1962. After more than a year of construction on the site, the monument complex was officially opened to the public on October 14th, of 1963, a day which commemorated exactly 19 years since the liberation of the city of Niš from Axis occupational forces.