The Soldiers’ Monument Commission is charged with representing the Town of Winchester’s interest in the Monument and Memorial Park on Crown Street in Winsted. The commission’s volunteers: recognizes the historical importance and aesthetic value of the Soldiers’ Monument, a symbolic icon of the Town of Winchester. Our mission is to protect, preserve, and enhance this nationally-recognized landmark while providing a clean and safe park for all residents and visitors.

During the past several years we have been able to bring more public attention, use, and town funding to support the mission, the upkeep, and the restoration of this landmark.

Using $100,000 from a municipal bonding package, another nearly $50,000 of money that has been privately donated to the restoration fund over the past several years, annual budget allowances from the town, and our own time and work we have: restored and re-pointed the granite walls along Crown Street, re-roofed and re-pointed the entryway (portico) building, constructed a new drainage systems to prevent runoff and washouts, replaced crumbling and unsafe concrete stairway from the street to the monument with pavers, replaced outdate and out of code electrical wiring, installed special flood lights to illuminate the flags and front of monument at night, and installed security floodlights to ensure a protected area around the monument. 

In an effort to make the area more user friendly we have installed two picnic tables, a drinking water fountain , trash receptacles, a porta-toilet, and an all-weather bulletin board that provides information about the history of the monument. During the summer months we sponsor and encourage the park’s use for community concerts, picnics, plays, and weddings. During December, we provide a Christmas lighting structure on top of the monument visible from many parts of town.

To encourage more public awareness of the Monument and Park, we created and support a website www.soldiersmonumentwinsted.org that provides historical information, special insights, unique views from on top of the monument, an aerial view, close-ups of the memorial plaques and names of the Civil War veterans, and details of the condition inside the building.

Our volunteer commission members provide their time for holiday open hours at the monument, are available on request for special openings, and on a regular basis individually provide maintenance to the grounds, memorial building, and monitor the security and use of the park.

We continue to seek financial assistance for the next phase of restoration needed on the main monument. This work, divided into several projects, will work on the preservation of the outside of the building, restoration of the bronze statue, then improve the quality inside the 118 year old structure, and finally go to the creation of an outside park similar to the one first built through donations and then turn over to the town for public preservation. 

As we continue our fundraising and grant-searching we seek assistance from individual donors and businesses because we know that a restored monument and park is a tourist attraction that benefits the community and local economy.