Elgin Fire Barn No. 5 Museum officials unveiled designs Saturday for a new memorial plaza and launched an effort to raise the $170,000 needed for the project, a vision that’s coming together after decades of planning.
“We’re very proud to unveil the plans for a new addition to Memorial Park,” said Elgin Fire Chief David Schmidt at the Elgin Area Firefighters’ Memorial Service at the museum, 533 Saint Charles St. “This is a very exciting day. It’s something that’s probably 27 years in the making.”
When former fire chief John Henrici started thinking about the memorial, he had a grand vision to construct something similar to Springfield’s firefighter monument that could be a focal point for the annual service and would serve to honor firefighters, Schmidt said.
There have been various artist renderings and thoughts of what should be placed in the George Van deVoorde Firefighter Memorial Park for years, he said. The park is located on the museum grounds.