Museum dedicated to Missouri firefighters

Memorial services planned May 18-19

A memorial service from several years ago drew representatives from fire departments across the state.
A memorial service from several years ago drew representatives from fire departments across the state.

KINGDOM CITY - The final phase of the Missouri Firefighters Memorial project is underway, with the help of a lot of people.

"A lot of people have been watching, and we've turned dirt," said Kenneth Hoover, recently retired after 45 years as chief of Little Dixie Fire Protection District in Mexico. "This is our final and third phase of the project - we've done the tourism building and the memorial, and this is the museum."

Footers are dug and concrete poured. On Wednesday, materials for the 20,000-plus square-foot building were delivered to the site, at the northwest quadrant of the Interstate 70/U.S. 54 intersection in Kingdom City.

Hoover couldn't give an exact amount of what the project will cost, but stressed donations are still needed - despite one healthy donation already.

"A gentleman came into my office at the Little Dixie department - I know him, but I don't want to give his name," Hoover said. "I asked him if he had his checkbook, and he said, 'Yes, in the car.' I asked him to write a check for $50,000, and he did. We've got people who are committed."

The front of the building is designed to look like an old-time fire station.

"It will have a training room and officers and a display area for trucks and equipment," added Hoover, who is vice chair of the memorial foundation board.

He said the side of the building overlooking the memorial will be glass. There will be a dedication soon; information will be coming.

Hoover hopes the roof at least will be on by the weekend of May 18-19, when the annual memorial ceremony will take place. The candlelight ceremony will be 9 p.m. May 18, and the Sunday morning service will be at 10:30 a.m. The keynote speaker Sunday will be Col. Sandy Karsten, director of the state's Department of Public Safety, who started her law-enforcement career as a state trooper patrolling Callaway and Audrain counties.

"She's a neat lady and will give us a great ceremony," Hoover said.

If there is bad weather, the group will meet Sunday at Auxvasse Elementary.

"This will be the last year we would have to move up there," he added.

People can look up the Missouri Firefighters Museum Project on Facebook and click on the donation button. Also, people can go on the website, ffam.org/memorial, to learn about tax-deductible donations including the "Foot in the Door Sponsorship," or call Hoover at 573-473-4001.

"I'll come visit with anybody," he said of his willingness to meet with people. "I don't care if they give $1 or $1 million."

The project to construct Missouri's Fire Fighters Memorial began in 2002.

"That's when we started it, but the economy went south a couple times," Hoover said. "It's a neat deal. It will have all the history of every fire department in the state."

Some donations of materials have been offered, but a committee will "vet" all donations of things.

"We want stuff that has some history," Hoover added.

A 1938 museum-quality fire truck has been donated by a benefactor from Hannibal. The memorial already has pieces from Sept. 11, 2001, when the World Trade Center was destroyed, the Pentagon attacked and more.

Of the 2,977 victims killed in the Sept. 11 attacks, 412 were emergency workers, including 343 firefighters of the New York City Fire Department.

"About 80 percent of firefighters are volunteers across the United States and Missouri, too," Hoover said. "They do it because they want to - they practice, they train."

A sculpture of a kneeling firefighter is the crown jewel of the memorial, visible to passersby on the freeway. The original statue created for the memorial was instead given to the people of New York after the 9/11 attacks and placed near Times Square.