Owen County spending $39,000 to renovate veterans’ wall

SPENCER, Ind. (AP) – About $39,000 will be invested to rebuild the War Memorial Wall in Owen County in central Indiana.

The monument honors local military veterans. It encompasses bricks purchased by the families of nearly 1,190 veterans from the Civil War through the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The waist-high wall is on the courthouse lawn in downtown Spencer. The site also has a second monument that list names of all Owen County veterans killed in combat.

Mike Harvey is a Vietnam veteran overseeing the project. The 70-year-old tells The (Bloomington) Herald -Times ) that no maintenance was ever done for the wall. Harvey says there’s been water damage.

The project should be done by the end of June. Harvey hopes to have a special rededication ceremony this summer.