Centralia to Receive Grant Funds for Washington Lawn Cemetery Restoration

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The Centralia City Council is expected to approve a grant agreement with the state Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation on Tuesday for $27,238 in state funds to be used in conjunction with the George Washington Bicentennial Committee’s efforts to renovate the Washington Lawn Cemetery.

Councilors voted unanimously earlier this year to sponsor the committee’s application for a Historic Cemetery Preservation Capital Grant that asked for about $41,000 towards three specific projects at the cemetery. Two of the three — the installation of a concrete walkway and curbing around the Washington family plot, and the restoration of six limestone headstones dating back 150 years — will be funded by the grant.

Committee member Bob Russell spearheaded the grant application process and says he’s looking forward to seeing the effort come to fruition.

“This will in essence create a triangle where you can go from (the Olympic Club) McMenamins to the cemetery to the (George Washington) statue,” Russell said. “It can be one more site on the historic march around Centralia.”

The George Washington Bicentennial Committee recently completed its efforts to finance and install a statue in Washington Park of Centralia founder George Washington and his wife Mary Jane in conjunction with its celebration of his bicentennial.

A major point of conversation among committee members during the past few months has been how to sustain the effort to recognize the Washington family now that the statue is finished. 

Scholarships named for George Washington will be awarded annually by the committee to Centralia College students.

“Every year, they’ll have to hear the name ‘George Washington,’” Russell said. 



Restoring the Washingtons’ final resting place will give them another avenue to involve the community in their efforts.

“It’s a neat way to restore and to do upkeep on part of Centralia’s heritage and history,” committee chairman Brian Mittge said. “We’ve cleaned it up a lot over the last year and a half. We’ve done a lot of repair work, we’re looking to put some more long term investment in it, and it looks like we’re going to be able to do a lot of that.”

The grant itself will be funded on a reimbursement basis. Centralia sponsored the grant on behalf of the committee, thus city funds will be used to pay local workers that submitted bids as part of the grant application. 

One, Centralia Monument, is responsible for crafting many of the headstones in the Washington Lawn Cemetery going back more than 100 years.

Russell said he plans to work with Centralia City Manager Rob Hill and Community Development Director Emil Pierson to put the two projects in motion as soon as possible once the city council approves the grant agreement.

“One of the things I’ve so enjoyed about the community effort to celebrate George Washington’s life has been the diversity of the group,” Russell said. “The city has been an integral part and my little piece in it has been extremely rewarding.”