After the disastrous fire of May 22, 2007 that destroyed the Old Kentontown Church, Magistrate Larry Jones and RCHS Vice-President Jim Dempsey discussed what could be done in the way of a memorial. It had always been the intention of RCHS to provide some type of marker at the Church once the restoration was complete. Larry expressed the desire to have something significant, meaningful and long lasting. After many discussions with local people, members and monument companies, plaques mounted on polished granite in the shape of the church was accepted.
The original design would have been brass markers on stainless steel. The cost however was way beyond what could have been raised in a reasonable amount of time. Schott Monument of Cincinnati suggested alternative materials. Fear of theft of the brass and the corrosive action led to much cheaper plaques and roof out of aluminum. It took a year to find a foundry, Newman Brothers, in Cincinnati, who could cast the aluminum map and names as designed. Originally it had been hoped to have twice the amount of text in the town history and many more names, but the size of the letters was a casting problem, so compromise had to be made.
The actual pictures, artwork, and lettering for the memorial is shown for the benefit of members out of the area.
