Centralia City Hall, built in 1921, the Centralia Union Depot, built in 1912, and the Carnegie Library, built in 1913, will all have new plaques with QR code links thanks to the Centralia Downtown Association (CDA), which is working to get these plaques installed throughout all the buildings in downtown, according to CDA member Jan Nontell.
Nontell unveiled the first three plaques at the Centralia City Council meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 9, during a presentation.
“The city is going to put these up for us,” Nontell said. “And as we get them ready for (other) downtown buildings, those will go up also, and the CDA will be paying for one company or one person to put all of them up on the private buildings.”
This will ensure all the plaques are at relatively the same height, Nontell added.
The QR codes will link people to the CDA’s website with historical information about the buildings and a map leading to other historical sites around Centralia.
Work on creating these plaques began a while ago, Nontell said, with the CDA finally receiving the Centralia Historic Preservation Commission’s approval last year.
“We got approval, and now we’re ready to go,” Nontell said.
Mayor Kelly Smith Johnston thanked the CDA for its work in getting the plaques and websites created.
“Those plaques look really nice,” Smith Johnston added.
Centralia City Hall is located at 118 W. Maple St.; the Centralia Union Depot is located at 210 Railroad St.; and the Carnegie Library, now known as the Centralia Timberland Library, is located at 110 S. Silver St. in downtown Centralia.
The CDA is part of the National Main Street Movement, which aims to foster economic development through preservation-based methods in historic downtowns, according to its website. For more information, visit https://downtowncentralia.org/.
