Polish monument moved to Peterson Park

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Neighbors | Submitted.Peterson Park in Poland will be the new home to the Polish War Veteran’s monument. The memorial was on South Avenue since 1970..

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Neighbors | Submitted.The Polish War Veteran’s monument will move to Peterson Park. The memorial was erected in 1970 on South Avenue.

A monument to Polish veterans of World Wars I and II, which stood for four decades outside a Polish-American social hall on Youngstown’s South Side, will be rededicated June 25 in Peterson Park in the center of the Village of Poland, Ohio, during a Celebrate Poland weekend.

““We’re happy that this striking monument has found a home worthy of its heritage,” said Larry Warren, Town One Streetscapes president, adding that the groups have been working with several veterans’ organizations to facilitate the move for nearly a year.

The granite monument was removed last week from the front of the vacant former Krakusy Hall on South Avenue in Youngstown and placed in storage pending its installation on a new foundation in Peterson Park, according to Aundrea Cika Heschmeyer, director of Polish Youngstown.

The granite memorial is dedicated to Polish migr veterans of World Wars I and II. It was erected at its current location on South Avenue in 1970 by the Youngstown chapter of the Polish Army War Veterans of America. That group is now defunct and the former Krakusy Hall building has been vacant for several years.

In its new location, the monument will accompany life-size statues of Polish Gens. Casimir Pulaski and Tadeusz Kosciuszko, who fought alongside the colonists in the American Revolutionary War.

Polish Youngstown, a local umbrella group of Polish-American churches and lodges, which raised money to relocate the monument, plans to raise additional funds to install a flagpole in the monument’s new location and make the new location more handicapped-accessible.