Fundraiser to revitalize Soldier's Square in Appleton launches Memorial Day
The Civil War Memorial will be temporarily removed for restoration as part of a plan to revitalize Soldier's Square in downtown Appleton. (Photo: Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)
APPLETON - Soldier's Square, a prominent tribute to veterans in downtown Appleton, is due for a facelift — and organizers are seeking assistance from the public.
Sculpture Valley Inc. and Hearthstone Historic House Museum have partnered to revitalize Soldier's Square with historic bricks that once lined the city's electric trolley system and with the restoration of the Civil War and Spanish-American War monuments.
For a $40 donation,can dedicate an engraved, historic brick to any U.S. veteran. can donate through the project's website, which launches Monday.
Hearthstone Executive Director George Schroeder said the goal is to sell 2,500 engraved bricks. Once the goal is met, participating groups will come up with a final design for Soldier's Square.
“We’re returning (the bricks) to public use in downtown Appleton literally just yards from where they used to be,” Schroeder said.
The project, titled "Every Soldier's Square," is a testament to the sacrifices of all veterans — regardless of military branch or conflict, according to a press release from Hearthstone.
The fundraiser will also support patients at the Appleton VA Clinic, the release said.
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Sculpture Valley Executive Director Alex Schultz, an Appleton Common Council member, introduced a resolution May 15 to affirm the revitalization plan.
Schultz said the resolution asks the city "to put a stake in the ground," so when other development projects in the area break ground Soldier's Square revitalization will indefinitely follow.
"As a veteran of Desert Storm, I am keenly aware of the current lack of recognition in the public sphere for those who have given all over the past several decades," Schultz said in a statement. "That is why we started this fundraising project."
The resolution also asked the city to complete full restorations of the Civil War and Spanish-American War memorials on the Square using money allocated in the budget for this type of work.
Since 2011, Sculpture Valley has worked toward full restorations of Appleton's various war memorials — an effort put in motion when the city established restoration funding in 2015.
The Soldier's Monument, otherwise known as the Civil War Monument, will be removed from the square to be fully restored by a monument conservator, said Laura Kubick, a conservator from the Twin Cities who is expected to lead the effort.
The Spanish-American War Memorial formerly located on the east end of the square will also be restored, Kubick said in a statement. The memorial is now at Pierce Park.
Currently in Pierce Park in Appleton, the Spanish-American War Memorial will be restored and brought back to its original location at Soldier's Square. (Photo: Dan Powers, Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)
Schultz also hopes to create a new memorial for unrecognized veterans of the most recent conflicts at the center of the new plaza. The new memorial will commemorate veterans from all branches of the military.
Paving bricks dating from 1890 to 1930 will also be used to redesign Soldier's Square.
The bricks formerly used along the Appleton trolley line were mainly paved over when buses became the preferred method of transportation, according to Hearthstone.
Schroeder said many of the bricks were excavated, hauled away and dumped in the Fox River, but thousands ended up at the bluff behind the museum.
Former residents of the Hearthstone home, Harold and Ruth Mares, used the 25,000 bricks to install a driveway, but Schroeder said the bricks needed to be removed to accommodate new parking lots.
More than 13,000 of the 9-pound bricks were removed by hand and stored away.
Participating residents will be able to commemorate a veteran by having that person's name, branch of service and conflict engraved in one of the historical bricks.
Because downtown Appleton is going through an overall redesigning process, Schultz said considering Soldier's Square for revitalization is a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
The timeline of this project depends on when a nearby parking ramp will be torn down and replaced by a proposed Appleton public library — a project that will be done in phases over the next few years.
"This (monuments) project might take long to implement, but we didn't want to wait too long," Schultz said. "Let's have a conversation about what this square is."
No engraving will take place until the minimum fundraising goal is met and all participants in the Soldier's Square project agree to a final design.
Contact Hibah Ansari at 920-996-7266 or hansari@gannett.com.