Kasson Historic Wall work moves forward

Kasson will move forward with restoring the Historic Wall after a group of private citizens raised substantial dollars for the project.
Janet Sinning of the Park and Recreation Commission spearheaded the fundraising, and reports that the group has raised $43,000 toward the $70,000 project. The $68,000 price tag includes repairing the sidewalk and curb adjoining the wall.
On March 24 the Kasson City Council voted 4-1 to move forward with fixing the wall, with Councilmember Lonnie Zelinske voting against the project. The wall is crumbling and in need of repair, and has been an issue that Kasson residents are passionate about. Sinning’s group wrote letters, made phone calls and placed an ad in the Dodge County Independent drumming up donations for the project.
“I have worked hard and my group has too,” Sinning said after the council meeting on March 24. “We’ve all worked hard to save this wall, and the community has been just wonderful. We’re still taking donations to put an information board there.”
After the $43,000 in donations, the city is looking to fund the rest of the wall repair through state dollars as well as local liquor store sale monies. State dollars would come from a Sen. Dave Senjem-sponsored bill appropriating $30,000 in 2021 from the arts and cultural heritage fund for a grant to the city of Kasson to restore the wall and pillars.
Repair on the wall is slated to begin this summer, with Decorah, Iowa, stonesman John Dingley taking on the project.
Kasson’s Historic Wall is at Veteran’s Memorial Park, neighboring the city pool and was built during the late 1930s or early 1940s, in conjunction with the Works Progress Administration (WPA). President Franklin Roosevelt and members of Congress responded to the Great Depression by creating the WPA. Workers made public improvements to parks, roads, bridges, schools and other public structures.
“It looks like the wall is going to get repaired and hopefully the project will start this summer,” said Ron Unger, the city of Kasson’s Park and Rec supervisor.
Judy Severson was one of Sinning’s fundraising volunteers. She said she was prompted to get involved after reading about the save the wall efforts in the DCI.
Severson, of Kasson, initially made a generous donation toward the wall repair efforts, but then decided she had time to get involved with raising more money. “I thought, ‘I can make calls to people and help out in that way,”
Severson said I thought, ‘I don’t want that wall to come down. It’s a unique part of Veteran’s Park.’”
“I am so pleased,” Severson said of the fundraising efforts. “Very, very pleased. A lot of other people worked harder than I did.”
Coralie Fiegel of Kasson spearheaded a letter writing campaign to help raise money for the Historic Wall repair.
“I was really concerned about it,” she said. “I hated to see it being torn down so I decided I had time and could help out as much as I could to help save it.”
“I grew up in Kasson and always saw the wall there,” Fiegel said. “I’ve always enjoyed it and am just glad something is being done to save it.”
 
“Obviously a lot of private contributions have been raised,” said Tim Ibisch, city administrator for the city of Kasson. “That shows there’s a definite interest from citizens in our area. I think that’s definitely something positive.”
Citizens can still donate to the wall. To donate to the wall costs, people can go to Home Federal Bank and put money into the Save the Wall account. Or citizens can mail money to Save the Wall, Janet Sinning, 606 5th Ave. NE, Kasson.