BEATRICE, Neb. (AP) - The Veterans Memorial Park in Beatrice is spick and span after looking bare this summer for good reasons.
Water damage to the brick walls called for the replacement of several bricks. Project leaders figured while the plaques are down, they may as well polish them.
Now, the walls are fixed and plaques of area war veterans’ names are in place, shinier and more weather resistant.
The Beatrice Daily Sun (https://bit.ly/2eWqDFk ) reports that funds and labor donated by local groups and businesses made the park’s repairs and refreshment possible.
“We were hoping the entire project would be paid for by grants,” said Verdella Vetrovsky, co-chair of the project and a member of the Beatrice Rotary club, which founded the park. “We received a $10,000 grant from Beatrice Plus and that paid for part of the walls. The walls were more costly than we anticipated because we had to replace more bricks.”
Earlier this year, 30 bricks were estimated to be in need of replacement because they were cracking and crumbling because “somehow, someway, moisture is getting in the walls,” Vetrovsky said in July.
That number grew to 3,000 bricks. Endicott Clay Products Company stood by its original pledge to provide all of the bricks free of charge.
“They put in some new webbing for more ventilation in the walls so hopefully the bricks won’t retain moisture causing the bricks to decay,” Vetrovsky said.
Project leaders had to find money to pay for the additional labor of the job done by Masonry Construction Inc.
“The rest of the money used to pay for the repairs came from the Beatrice Rotary Foundation and the Beatrice Rotary Club,” Vetrovsky said.
Beatrice Rotary Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that was created when the park was in order to collect tax deductible donations. Vetrovsky said the park was created when all rotary clubs were challenged to come up with a project to commemorate the club’s centennial in 2005.
Employees from Exmark Manufacturing Company, known for its donated funds and labor to the community, put the plaques on the wall.
The employees also drove the plaques to and from Illinois manufacturing company Trigard Memorials, where they were polished and given a Marine coating that should make them more weather resistant. Plaques on benches, light poles and donning quotes on the walls were also given the treatment.
“That was a huge, huge cost savings for the Veterans Memorial Park and such a wonderful tribute for Exmark to give back to the community,” Vetrovsky said. “They did a super job.”
Overall, Vetrovsky said the project during the past months went well.
“We had wonderful support from community members,” Vetrovsky said. “We were hoping it wouldn’t be as many bricks as it was, but we bit the bullet and said, ’Let’s move forward.’”
The park has 13 walls, 12 of which are full with plaques of inscribed names. Now, the foundation is collecting names for the first plaque to be installed on the 13th wall. The plaque isn’t made until the full 21 names are submitted. So far, Vetrovsky said she has 10 names submitted for the plaque.
The foundation always accepts donations. They’re particularly looking for donations now for continued maintenance of the park and for additional sculptures to be added to the site.
“We want to do three more sculptures,” Vetrovsky said. “We’re trying to raise money for one at a time. We’re sending letters to the community asking for support.”
Donations can be sent to the Beatrice Rotary Foundation, P.O. Box 162 in Beatrice. More information about the park, including forms for inscriptions, can be found on the website, BeatriceVMP.com.
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Information from: Beatrice Sun, https://www.beatricedailysun.com
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