CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

Kasson's veterans memorial gets funding for fix-up

Post-Bulletin - 4/9/2021

Apr. 9—KASSON — As a boy, Dave Senjem would board the bus in Hayfield and ride to Kasson to swim in the town's pool in the summers, and he often marveled at the limestone wall and pillars that greeted him at the park where the pool sits.

On Wednesday, Sen. Senjem, R-Rochester, announced he'd been able to help secure $30,000 of Legacy Fund money to help restore that limestone monument that had amazed him all those years ago.

"I learned how to swim in that little swimming pool a long time ago," Senjem said. "You'd get off the bus there, and that wall was majestic. Now, life has dealt me this opportunity to maybe preserve it for another 100 years."

ALSO READ: Are more wheels needed to deliver meals?

That $30,000 will get paired with about $43,000 raised within the community to help with repairs to the memorial as well as sidewalks, curb-and-gutter, and paving stones to be added in front of the memorial, said Ron Unger, parks and recreation supervisor for the city of Kasson.

Last spring, Unger said, the city decided to look into a restoration project for the memorial, but an initial quote of about $200,000 to take the wall apart, repair and treat the stones, then mortar it all back together gave the city a bit of sticker shock.

That, Unger said, is where Park Board member Janet Sinning stepped up to raise funds while a second opinion and a less costly plan was found.

Sinning said the wall was obviously in need of repair, but when the city balked at the initial proposed restoration and the costs, she thought, "No, we have to keep it."

That was close to a year ago, Sinning said. Since then, she and two other volunteers — Coralie Fiegel and Judy Severson — have sent letters, talked to businesses, and solicited funds everywhere from Facebook to a semi-weekly advertisement in the Dodge County Independent's Shopper pages. Donation jars were set up in some local businesses for people to drop in a dollar or even their pocket change.

"One person offered up to $10,000, and somebody else very generously gave $5,000," Sinning said. "Other people have donated $100 and $50."

Sinning said one $10 check from a woman in Byron stuck out. "She sent a letter and mentioned that her dad worked with the (Civilian Conservation Corps) in Appalachia."

The wall and other structures, including a chimney that has been removed, were constructed by the Works Progress Administration in 1938, Sinning said. Aside from its place as a memorial for those in the armed forces who gave their lives, the structure is a piece of American history.

Unger said the city had the wall tuck pointed about a dozen years ago, but the work did not hold up, and the city has instead found a Decorah, Iowa, company that specializes in limestone restoration.

A bid to refurbish the stone and do tuck pointing with more resilient materials came in at just under $43,000. Another $6,900 was quoted for the brick pavers in front of the wall. The city then added the curb and sidewalk for another $16,000, bringing the total project budget to $66,711, Unger said.

"When we got that price and the park board took it to the city council, they said $66,000 is a lot better than $200,000," Unger said.

The city applied for a grant from the state's Legacy Fund while Sinning and her team worked on fundraising the rest of the necessary funds.

With the money now in place, Unger said the project is scheduled to start later this summer and be completed sometime this fall.

"It's in pretty rough shape, and it's been there a long time," Unger said. "We want to make sure we can preserve this for the future."

___

(c)2021 the Post-Bulletin

Visit the Post-Bulletin at www.postbulletin.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.