The Mayfield Community Foundation plans to create a new monument in Mayfield’s downtown area to honor the history and community of the city. The monument will be made with a collection of bricks from the churches and other buildings destroyed by the Quad State Tornado in December.
Steven Elder, the director of the Mayfield Community Foundation, said the monument will be a singular brick wall comprised of different bricks of shape, size, and color from various buildings in Mayfield.
“(It will be) a collection of those different entities so it will be visually appealing, but it also be something to remember them by,” Elder told WKMS.
If any organization or property owner wishes to contribute to the project, Elder said the Mayfield Community Foundation is accepting donated stacks of bricks on a pallet and they ask that the name of the donator and source of the bricks be provided.
Elder said this monument is also a great alternative to disposing of debris and encourages donations over discarding loose bricks.
“Don’t take their bricks to the landfill, Don’t take them to a washout spot,” the Mayfield Community Foundation director said. “Preserve the history and preserve those bricks”
Elder said he also hopes to get a large bin that anyone could throw loose bricks into. The bricks would then be sorted and put onto a pallet made from a random assortment of bricks. Elder said the location of the bin will either be at the fairgrounds or somewhere in the downtown area.
Elder said multiple locations are being considered for the final home of the monument. While the hope is to have it as near to downtown as possible, Elder said the exact location is still being decided. The director said there are multiple green spaces near the court square that could make for good potential locations.
Elder said the final product will be a mixed brick wall that symbolizes what he believes the Mayfield community represents.
“It’s not just going to be bricks from just one source or one location,” Elder said. “It’s symbolic to me that’s what our community is. We’re made up of so many different races and cultures that it’s a beautiful thing.”
Elder said he hopes Mayfield residents will find community and strength in the monument as a testament to their will to persevere.
“(It’ll show) the strength of rebuilding,” Elder said. “The strength that we’re still here, and (people will be) able to go up and touch the history, touch the bricks, and know that we didn’t leave.”
