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Mid Hudson Times, Wednesday, January 24, 2018
City receives funding to rebuild Civil War monument
By SHANTAL RILEY
[email protected]
A Civil War monument at Downing
Park will be rebuilt thanks to a state
grant through the office of Assemblyman
Frank Skartados. The New York State
Dormitory Authority grant will pay to
rebuild the seven-foot monument on the
west side of the park next to Robinson
Avenue.
Made of marble, the memorial honored
Union veterans of the American Civil War.
“It was created by, paid for by and erected
in 1934 by the Daughters of the Union,
local daughters and female relatives of
our Civil War vets,” city historian Mary
McTamaney said in November.
The monument was destroyed when
a car crashed into it in 2016. The driver
claimed he ran into the monument when
he swerved to avoid two deer, according
to city police. The monument has laid in
pieces since.
The $125,000 grant will also go to pay
for park lighting, improvements to the
park shelter house and paving on local
roads. A total of $12,000 will go to the
The monument was erected in 1934 by the local chapter of Daughters of the Union and female relatives of our Civil War Vets.
rebuilding of the monument, the City of
Newburgh Comptroller’s Office stated.
Work is expected to begin in the spring.
More than $3,000 was raised by the
Downing Park Planning Committee from
veterans’ groups such as the Sons of
Union Veterans of the Civil War and a
GoFundMe fundraising campaign.