The Veterans Memorial in Legion Park is crumbling to pieces. The Rock Island Bloomers have taken on the challenge of getting it repaired.

The memorial was built in 2009 by a private group using donated funds. Over the years, the City of Gerald has taken on the expense of replacing flags and doing minor maintenance to the mostly brick  structure. A few years ago, the city took control of the memorial which sits on park grounds.

Since it was built, the masonry and concrete have never been sealed. There are gaping holes where bricks and granite slabs were never placed. This has allowed water to severely damage the walls holding the memorial bricks.

Rodney Angell, who spent a career in brick and stone repair, has offered to oversee the repair process. He and the bloomers are working closely with the city to create a plan that will hopefully have the memorial in good shape by early next summer.

This week, Angell drilled weep holes in the vacant spaces atop the brick wall allowing water to drain before it can cause more damage by freezing. He will also fill the vacancies with sand. A layer of masonry over the sand will also prevent water from filling the unfinished spots. This can be easily removed when more bricks and granite tiles are purchased to fill these holes.

The bloomers have volunteered to apply sealant to the entire structure to also prevent more ravages from winter weather.

Over the winter, the bloomers will begin a campaign to sell more bricks and granite tiles to completely fill in the displays atop the brick walls. Fund-raisers will be held to help pay for some of the repairs and for flag replacement.

Next spring, the mortar around the edges of the display bricks will be removed and replaced with caulking that will expand and contract with temperature variations. The bricks will be scoured with muriatic acid to remove mineral deposits and tuck pointing will be done. Several broken bricks in the wall will need to be removed and replaced. The concrete floor of the memorial will be cleaned and sealed.

Angell has agreed to oversee all the processes and make sure it is all done in the correct order.

The park budget does not have  money to cover all the necessary repairs and labor. Grass cutting, bathroom supplies and electricity eats up most of what is taken in. It is up to the generosity of citizens to push this over the finish line.