Ashland recently received a $2,500 grant from the PA Skill Games Charitable Foundation to relight the borough’s town clock, which has been dark for nearly three years, and begin restoration work on the historic field piece located at the Veterans Memorial behind the American Legion Post 434.
The grant effort was a partnership between Ashland Gardening Angels and the Legion, with Mayor Lorenda Kutz assisting in the application process in her roles as mayor and president of Ashland Gardening Angels.
According to borough officials, the funding is part of a broader initiative led by Mayor Kutz to pursue additional grants aimed at beautifying Ashland.
The park in front of the Legion was originally created by Ashland Downtown Inc. after a 2008 fire destroyed both a restaurant and the Legion building that previously occupied the property. After the Legion was rebuilt, Ashland Downtown Inc. installed the town clock on the portion of the property it owned. A “Walk of Honor” was later established to help fund reconstruction of the Legion Post Home.
When American Legion Post 434 assumed ownership of the park, the site was renamed and dedicated to “All Those Who Served Our Country.”
The memorial area is located at 501-505 Centre Street in Ashland.
Once the clock is fixed, restoration work will also focus on the historic military field piece located at the Veterans Memorial at North Fifth and Chestnut streets. The memorial is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The seven-ton 1918 military field piece was gifted to Ashland by the U.S. Army from Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Aberdeen, Maryland, arriving in the borough on Aug. 3, 1933. Historical accounts state the artillery piece was immediately hoisted from the tractor-trailer transporting it onto Legion Place during the dedication of the newly remodeled Legion Home that same year.
