Progress has been slow on creating the memorial to the Kewanee Boiler Corp. But there has been progress.
Kewanee Boiler, which observed its 100th anniversary in 1969, was a leading producer of boilers small enough to heat a home and large enough to be installed in aircraft carriers. The company, which once sold its products around the world, went out of business at the end of 2001.
Mark Mikenas, executive director of the Kewanee Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Kewanee Historical Preservation organization, said a basic design for the memorial has been created and some items for a display have been obtained.
The memorial will be on the parking lot at the north end of Franklin Street, across the tracks from where the Boiler office building stood before it was destroyed by a fire last fall.
A Type C Kewanee boiler has been repainted by workers at Kewanee’s MTM Trailers and is on a trailer at the site. Mikenas said he’s “on the lookout” for a bigger boiler that could be a part of the memorial.
A flagpole that once stood on the factory grounds has been reinstalled in the parking lot.
Mikenas said that when the Boiler factory buildings were demolished a few years ago, a 50- by eight-foot sign that had been painted on the wall of one of the buildings came to light.
He said the panels on which the sign was painted were preserved and for a while were stored in a barn on his rural property. They’ve now been moved to a location in Kewanee, and local artist Tom Washburn will restore the sign to its original condition so it can become a part of the memorial.
Mikenas said he has asked Ameren Illinois officials for a couple of old power poles on which the sign can be mounted.
Wethersfield High School graduate Kathryn Newman has come up with a basic design for the memorial, Mikenas said.
He said while it’s taken several months to get this far on the memorial, he hopes the project can still be completed this year.
Anyone who wants to contribute to the Boiler memorial project can send donations earmarked for the project to the Kewanee Chamber of Commerce at 113 E. Second St.
