ALTON - New signage now greets motorists and pedestrians at Lincoln-Douglas Square in Alton, where the Alton-Godfrey Rotary Club worked with the city to add an identifying marker to the western side of the historic site at the Landmarks/Piasa/Broadway intersection.
The sign marks Lincoln-Douglas Square, which commemorates the 1858 debate between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas in their contest for the U.S. Senate. According to the provided information, the site had stood for decades but was not readily apparent to thousands of motorists passing through the intersection.
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The new sign became possible after Rotary and the City of Alton poured a concrete base for the Community Christmas Tree, which the Rotary Club erects annually at the site. Alton-Godfrey Rotary Club members saw the face of the platform as a place for signage.
Moyer said, “It is just a fluke, really. We decided to do away with the wooden base for the Christmas tree and put a slab of concrete there, and when we finished, we had a 2-foot-wide 18-foot-long concrete slab. What better place to put the words Lincoln Douglas Square. We never had any front identity of the square. It worked out perfectly."
Moyer said the script for the sign was chosen with input from his daughter, whom he described as an artist, along with Craig Schaaf and others.
“I told my daughter, Dorsey Hunter, who is an artist about the slab and they wanted to see what kind of script we could have relative to the vintage Lincoln Douglas venue," Moyer said. "She came up with three different scripts and this was the one we chose. It was fine tuned by the guys at Elias, Kallal & Schaaf Funeral Homes."
Moyer, who chaired Rotary’s Lincoln-Douglas committee in the early 1990s, said he reached out to fellow Rotarian Craig Schaaf about the project. Schaaf's company, Elias, Kallal & Schaaf Funeral Homes, has a memorial sales division with engraving experience, Moyer said.
“Craig supplied the expertise and the artisan to engrave the classic-styled signage into the concrete facing of the pad,” Moyer said. “It really helps identify the site for those passing through that busy traffic corridor.”
The Alton-Godfrey Rotary Club has a long history with Lincoln-Douglas Square. It conducted fundraising for the site’s 1994 renovation, which included life-sized statues of Lincoln and Douglas. The club raised a quarter of a million dollars through bricks for the sculptures, according to the provided information, and completed the project with the city.
On Oct. 15, 1994, the renovated site hosted a reenactment of the seventh and final Lincoln-Douglas debate, commemorating the 136th anniversary of the event. The reenactment featured local actors portraying Lincoln, Douglas, and other historical figures and was broadcast on C-SPAN.
Since the rededication of the square, the Alton-Godfrey Rotary Club has served as a steward of the site, adding lighting enhancements and landscaping over the years. The club also purchases, erects, and disassembles the Community Christmas Tree displayed there during the holiday season.
Moyer said Rotary had also discussed lighting and other identification improvements for the site over the years, and the next step would be to light up the area where the new identification of the squad has been positioned.
The Alton-Godfrey Rotary Club was chartered by Rotary International on March 1, 1921. According to the provided information, the club has completed projects over the years, including the statues at Lincoln-Douglas Square, the Wadlow Statue, the Steamboat Mural, fountains, a Habitat for Humanity house, the community Christmas tree, and Alton-Godfrey Centennial Rotary Park.
Those interested in learning more about the Alton-Godfrey Rotary Club may visit the club's website at www.altongodfreyrotary.org. The club meets Monday evenings at 6 p.m. at the meeting room at Gentelin's Restaurant on Broadway in Alton. Visitors are welcome.
