Dedication ceremony set for May 8 at Brown Park
Several years worth of fundraising and generous contributions from local individuals and area businesses have brought the Logan County Law Enforcement Memorial project to life, with the foundation and concrete pad installed in recent weeks at the upcoming site in Brown Park.
To commemorate this effort and honor the lives of Logan County’s fallen officers, a dedication ceremony for the memorial is set for 11 a.m. Saturday, May 8, at the park.
The event will also serve as the county’s Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony for this year, which typically takes place in front of the Logan County Courthouse, Fraternal Order of Police Hi Point Lodge 60 members said.
“It’s exciting that the project is becoming a reality and we can’t wait to see how it transforms during the next several weeks,” Bellefontaine Police Department Sgt. Allen Shields said Monday. “While we have drawings of what the memorial will look like and all of the dimensions of it, it’s going to be amazing to actually see it in person.”
Phase one will be unveiled at the ceremony, and will feature the foundation and black granite walls set in place, explained Sgt. Shields, who has helped to lead the effort. Funds raised to date for the project total approximately $38,000 through cash donations and toward Thin Blue Line merchandise offered by the group, plus additional in-kind donations from area businesses, he said.
The FOP continues to fundraise for the second phase, which includes installing a life-sized bronze statue at the site.
“Building the base of the memorial and this initial phase is coming together with the help of many donors and also local contractors providing very generous donations of their services and materials,” Sgt. Shields said. “We’re so thankful for all of this support.
“COVID-19 made fundraising a little difficult last year, but we’re happy to be where we are today.”
Sgt. Shields said Alexander Concrete donated their services to install the concrete pad as the foundation for the memorial, and work continued Monday while crews caught a break from rainy weather over the weekend. In addition, Ohio Ready Mix donated the concrete for the foundation.
Flag poles will be transplanted from the front of the Carnegie building, where Richwood Banking Co.’s new branch is being remodeled at the corner of Main Street and Sandusky Avenue, the previous site planned for the law enforcement memorial before the county’s sale of the property.
The Logan County Commissioner donated the three flag poles to be lighted at the site, and the City of Bellefontaine has offered recent assistance in installing related lighting and electrical work.
“Joe Jackson from the city has been great in helping us get the lighting set up,” Sgt. Shields said.
April 29, the black granite stones will be installed, in time for the memorial ceremony. Previously detailed plans have called for a black granite wall on which bronze plaques will be mounted with the names of the fallen law enforcement officers.
Then this summer, landscaping work and other beautification efforts are planned at the memorial.
For phase two, Sgt. Shields related that the life-sized bronze statue will be of a law enforcement officer kneeling and holding a folded American flag for a family of a fallen officer.
The final phase is expected to cost an additional $30,000 to $40,000, Sgt. Shields said.
Donations toward the project may be mailed to: Fraternal Order of Police, Hi-Point Lodge 60, P.O. Box 277, Bellefontaine, OH, 43311, or dropped off at the Bellefontaine Police Department, 135 N. Detroit St., or call Sgt. Shields at the police department, (937) 599-1010
Donors should specify that their donations are for the Logan County Law Enforcement Memorial. The lodge is a 501c3 organization.