City to dedicate veterans walkway Saturday at Battell Park

MISHAWAKA — The city's military veterans have a new monument to honor their service at Battell Park — complete with an eternal flame and a list of the names of the city's war dead etched in granite.

Mayor Dave Wood will dedicate the newest addition of the westward expansion of the veterans walkway at 9 a.m. Saturday.

In 2019:Mishawaka dedicates veterans monument and opens time capsule

The brick walk will have 16 glass-etched informational spots lit by LED lighting, depicting Mishawaka's efforts in supporting the nation's wars. At an area west of the current Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Monument, a new granite memorial with a 24-hour flame will list the wars and the city's fallen veterans on slates.

Wood has said the extension of the Veterans Plaza, which was dedicated in May 2020 as a way to celebrate the refurbished metal work of the monument, will offer people a contemplative space to honor those family members and friends who died in defending the nation.

Monument recently renovated

The restoration of the Civil War monument took place in 2019 and was placed at its current spot in Veterans Plaza in May 2020. The monument had been installed in 1884, three years after Battell Park had been dedicated.

In 1967, the monument base fell into disrepair and was replaced with a new one. A time capsule had been included in that base, and the city ceremoniously opened the time capsule in November 2019 to find coins from the 1880s, a 1964 Kennedy half dollar, a June 1967 copy of the South Bend Tribune and a letter from Margaret Prickett, who was Mishawaka’s mayor at the time.

At that ceremony, Wood said: “This is Mishawaka’s first park and is our historic park. We want to keep this a very historic-orientated park, and so we’re paying tribute to the history of Mishawaka here.

“And what makes that history possible is the veterans who have sacrificed to give us the freedom to enjoy things like parks.”

Buy-A-Brick

The city is partnering with Mishawaka Troop Town, a program that works to provide housing and services for homeless veterans, to offer bricks along the veterans walkway at Battell Park to memorialize past, present and future veterans.

For a $75 fee, a brick with a veteran's name and attachment to military service can be made and placed in the walkway. Veterans who live or have lived in Mishawaka and who are on active duty, who are honorably discharged or who died on their tour of duty are eligible for the brick program.

For information about the veterans brick program, go to the city's Buy-A-Brick website or by contacting Jim Metherd at 574-346-1866 or by email at jim.metherd@gmail.com.