CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) - A ceremony will be held this week to open a new memorial in Champaign for fallen firefighters and police officers.
Tuesday evening’s dedication comes after a seven-year effort to build the memorial.
The (Champaign) News-Gazette reports (https://bit.ly/1rwTSKy ) the group behind the project raised about $100,000 for the memorial that was built in two phases.
The first portion was dedicated in 2010 and includes a granite base stone. Two life-sized bronze figures of a police officer and a firefighter were installed late last month.
One Champaign firefighter and at least two police officers have died in the line of duty, including an officer who was killed during a bootlegging raid in 1913.
Martha Hoffman Mariscal’s father was a firefighter who died in 1960. She says she’s “honored” by the memorial.
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Information from: The News-Gazette, https://www.news-gazette.com
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