Kalona’s memorial to unknown soldiers is in the midst of a major overhaul.

Last month, city workers removed the memorial at Sharon Hill Cemetery so it can be refurbished.

“We’ve removed the granite and cannonballs up there,” City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh told the Kalona Rotary Club last week. “We’re in the process, if the weather cooperates, we’ll remove all the concrete and pour a pad.”

The monument and cannonballs have been sent away to have work done.

“The monument has been removed, and it’s in Dubuque getting cleaned up and re-etched,” Schlabaugh said. “Then, we’ll put it back early in 2020 on a more appropriate space we can all be proud of.”

The cannonballs have been sent to Max-Cast in Kalona to be redone. Those will be placed on granite display pillars in the spring when the monument is reconstructed.

Weather has taken a toll on the concrete base of the monument, so the decision was made to re-do the monument in a similar manner as the Veterans Memorial outside the Kalona Community Center.

“That concrete base, weather hasn’t done it any favors,” Schlabaugh said. “Not unlike the Veterans Memorial where we did the pavers and everything, we want to clean that area up and use materials that probably have a longer life expectancy than concrete.

“We’re going to go to more pavers and granite. It’ll be paver-based, and there will be a bench there with a lit flag. We had success with the Veterans Memorial.”

The design was done in house by city staff, and much of the work will be paid for with Washington County Riverboat Foundation funds.

The project is expected to be completed some time in the spring.