Lincoln East Rotary Club heard from Susan Rodenburg, Lincoln Parks Foundation and Jay Jay, an engineer with the Lincoln Parks & Recreation. They gave us an update on the progress of the new brick holders and bricks for the Veterans Memorial Gardens.
Susan told us that they are about $60,000 from reaching their goal in getting all the new brick holders in place and replacing the bricks with a new type of brick that looks like a plaque. They have still about 30 old holders to replace and many of these are showing their age, along with the bricks fading or unreadable. Jay Jay told us that they came up with a new design and are using a local company to provide the new modern look of holders which will hold up much better than the old ones. The old bricks are being replaced with a design from another company that looks like a plaque and the information has been burned into that brick, compared to have it carved into a brick.
They have replaced at least half of the World War II bricks into new holders and still have the other half of World War II, Vietnam, Korea and World War I holders and bricks to replace. They hope to start in July of 2023 and get all the construction of the holders and bricks replaced by Veterans Day 2023.
New Project -- Holmes Lake Boat Dock Campaign -- This is to replace an old dock on South Shore Drive that was build in 1962. The Lincoln Parks Foundation is working the family of Donald Barger to coordinate this special project in his memory because that is where Donald's favorite fishing spot was during his life. The cost is to raise about $88,200 to replace this boat dock. The Parks Foundation's goal is to purchase and install a new ADA accessible dock to be used for fishing, fishing boat access and a launching point for kayaks, canoes, sailboats, and paddle boards. The new dock system will make it easier for people of all ages and abilities to enjoy fishing and water recreation. The ADA features include a wider dock, curbing and railing. So far, they have commitments totally $37,500. (The picture on the left is what the new dock would look like).