thedrifter
09-06-07, 12:04 AM
Should city move Hoover plaque honoring World War II vets?
BY EDD PRITCHARD
REPOSITORY STAFF WRITER
NORTH CANTON High on a wall near the E. Maple Street entrance to Hoover offices is a large bronze plaque commemorating the soldiers, marines, sailors and airmen who served during World War II.
If you know to look, you can see it while driving past in your car.
Councilman Jim Repace, a longtime Hoover employee and president of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1985, has been asking the city administration to help him get the plaque moved. He wants to put the plaque across the street in Bitzer Park.
But Mayor David J. Held and his staff have been slow — far too slow for Repace — to address the issue.
“I thought the administration would be a part of it, but they won’t,” Repace said.
So Tuesday night Repace laid it on the table to his fellow council members, and they are ready to help.
“I don’t want to see that left on the building or taken down and disappear,” Repace told council.
Repace said TTI North America, which owns and is trying to sell the Hoover property, has said he can have the plaque.
MOVE IN THE WORKS
The roughly 5-foot-by-7-foot plaque was destined for a new spot several years ago.
Company officials planned to mount the plaque on a piece of cut granite and set it on a concrete base. Repace believes they planned to put it at the Hoover Historical Center.
But the plan crumbled as Maytag Corp. tightened its hold over Hoover operations.
Repace said the special block of granite was purchased and delivered. It ended up at the Hoover farm on Easthill Street SE. When the farm was sold in 2004 to become a Montessori school, new owner Sally Dale called the company asking about the granite block, Repace said, but no one could provide an answer.
Repace hopes the block of granite still is at the farm, since renamed Fieldcrest.
Finding the granite will make it easier to place the plaque at the park. “That’s the key to moving this thing forward,” Repace said.
MONEY CONCERNS
The granite would be set on a reinforced concrete base. Repace estimates, based on numbers Hoover officials collected, that it would cost about $5,000 to build the base. The city likely would have to pay for that portion of the work.
If the block of granite isn’t found, another $5,000 or so might be needed to buy a replacement.
Repace is confident that Selinsky Brothers, which is working to remove equipment from the Hoover buildings, would move the plaque for little or no charge.
The other expenses, however, bother city administrators. Officials also want to be certain TTI doesn’t care if the plaque is moved.
“I would hate to spend money to build a foundation, then find out that we didn’t have authority to move it,” City Administrator Earle E. Wise Jr. said. He added that the money could be used to buy office supplies or fix equipment.
Repace believes the city can handle the expense.
“I want to see it displayed to the public,” he said of the plaque. “This is something that will be great and everlasting for the community.”
Ellie
BY EDD PRITCHARD
REPOSITORY STAFF WRITER
NORTH CANTON High on a wall near the E. Maple Street entrance to Hoover offices is a large bronze plaque commemorating the soldiers, marines, sailors and airmen who served during World War II.
If you know to look, you can see it while driving past in your car.
Councilman Jim Repace, a longtime Hoover employee and president of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1985, has been asking the city administration to help him get the plaque moved. He wants to put the plaque across the street in Bitzer Park.
But Mayor David J. Held and his staff have been slow — far too slow for Repace — to address the issue.
“I thought the administration would be a part of it, but they won’t,” Repace said.
So Tuesday night Repace laid it on the table to his fellow council members, and they are ready to help.
“I don’t want to see that left on the building or taken down and disappear,” Repace told council.
Repace said TTI North America, which owns and is trying to sell the Hoover property, has said he can have the plaque.
MOVE IN THE WORKS
The roughly 5-foot-by-7-foot plaque was destined for a new spot several years ago.
Company officials planned to mount the plaque on a piece of cut granite and set it on a concrete base. Repace believes they planned to put it at the Hoover Historical Center.
But the plan crumbled as Maytag Corp. tightened its hold over Hoover operations.
Repace said the special block of granite was purchased and delivered. It ended up at the Hoover farm on Easthill Street SE. When the farm was sold in 2004 to become a Montessori school, new owner Sally Dale called the company asking about the granite block, Repace said, but no one could provide an answer.
Repace hopes the block of granite still is at the farm, since renamed Fieldcrest.
Finding the granite will make it easier to place the plaque at the park. “That’s the key to moving this thing forward,” Repace said.
MONEY CONCERNS
The granite would be set on a reinforced concrete base. Repace estimates, based on numbers Hoover officials collected, that it would cost about $5,000 to build the base. The city likely would have to pay for that portion of the work.
If the block of granite isn’t found, another $5,000 or so might be needed to buy a replacement.
Repace is confident that Selinsky Brothers, which is working to remove equipment from the Hoover buildings, would move the plaque for little or no charge.
The other expenses, however, bother city administrators. Officials also want to be certain TTI doesn’t care if the plaque is moved.
“I would hate to spend money to build a foundation, then find out that we didn’t have authority to move it,” City Administrator Earle E. Wise Jr. said. He added that the money could be used to buy office supplies or fix equipment.
Repace believes the city can handle the expense.
“I want to see it displayed to the public,” he said of the plaque. “This is something that will be great and everlasting for the community.”
Ellie