Scioto County has received a grant from the State of Ohio for the construction of a war memorial.
Commissioner Bryan Davis provided an update during Thursday’s County Commissioners meeting. He said the project had been hit by several delays, including problems caused by COVID-19.
“Many veterans throughout our county have been working on it for a long time. The Southern Ohio War Memorial Foundation made up of a lot of great individuals, men and women. They’ve fought hard to get this done in our county.” He cited several local veteran’s organizations who had worked hard to bring the project forward. “We saw that effort languishing. You can have so many barbecue dinners, you can have so many bean dinners, but the monumental cost of this has been hard.”
Davis said the commissioners went to bat for these groups with the state. He said commissioners spoke to Senator Terry Johnson and Representative Brian Baldridge. We got $100,000 to build the war memorial.” Davis said the process was sometimes frustrating. “But we got it done.”
Davis said the project would utilize all local labor and materials made in the USA supplied by a local company. “It’s a great thing. We’re excited about it.”
The memorial will be built outside Lucasville and represent the fallen from nine Southern Ohio counties. “This is not just for Scioto County. It’s for the entire region.”
Commissioner Cathy Coleman, “It’s a privilege to do what we can to honor our veterans. Those in the past and currently serving.”
Commission Chairman Scottie Powell praised Davis. “I know you’ve been working on this since the beginning of this project. There’s been a lot of hoops to jump through. I know servicemen and women have been wondering when this would be done. They’ve been working hard towards this end. It’s a great project.”
Davis said, “We’ll get it built and people will have a place to go to reflect. Our veterans will finally get their memorial. They have fought so hard to get this and they deserve it.” He said that it was unfortunate that some of the vets who had worked so hard on the project had passed away before the project was completed. “This is in honor of them, too. They never got to see the dream realized. It will be something for generations that follow to enjoy.”
