Remembering JFK: Canton's eternal flame still burns for slain president

CANTON − A flame remembering President John F. Kennedy continues burning at Stadium Park six decades after his assassination.

Dedicated in 1966, the John F. Kennedy Memorial Fountain is symbolic for a community that had no direct ties to the iconic president, a measure of the immense grief felt by the nation when bullets struck down the 46-year-old politician.

Wednesday marks the 60th anniversary of the the national tragedy.

On a late afternoon earlier this month, the gas-powered flame wasn't burning. However, Doug Foltz, director of Canton Parks and Recreation, said it blows out from time to time. Otherwise, flames flicker, dance and illuminate in the shadow of the Canton Garden Center.

The flame is sometimes hard to see in brightness. Nighttime is when the memorial casts a soft glow on the words of the plaque and the date of JFK's assassination on Nov. 22, 1963.

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A circular pad serves as the base. A basin of water extends to a fountain encircled by a massive concrete ring, which represents a rocket launch pad in homage to Kennedy's famously bold prediction that Americans would step on the moon by the end of the 1960s. Landscaping and a walkway border the memorial.

Walkers and joggers pass by on the Herbert L. Fisher Walking Track with the memorial in the distance. Many are likely unaware of its existence or significance. Foltz, however, said it's not forgotten.

"A lot of families I see walk out and read the plaque and just have a quiet moment of reflection," he said. "And I think it's important that we continue history. I think there's an educational aspect crossing generations and families."

Upgrades and maintenance of Canton's JFK memorial

Over the decades, the JFK Memorial had deteriorated and fallen into disrepair, necessitating an extensive restoration in 2010 led by local developer and preservationist Steve Coon. Work included reinforcing, repairing and enlarging the water fountain ring.

Other Stark County and Northeast Ohio companies contributed to the project. A rededication ceremony followed the improvements.

Maintenance remains an ongoing job for the city park department, Foltz said.

Earlier this year, a total of roughly $25,000 was spent from the city's parks and recreation budget on a plug-in system for the memorial's fountain and to protectively coat the basin. Electrical work also was required, and the fountain now features multi-hued LED lighting programmed with a timer.

Efforts and expenses are worth preserving the memorial and honoring a slain president, Foltz said.

"I think we're fortunate that our Canton city school children donated to this cause and that we have this memorial," said Foltz, who was born the year of Kennedy's death.

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Donations from individuals, businesses and local labor councils also made the project possible in 1966. Leading the effort was a 10-member Kennedy Memorial Committee comprised of clergy, civic and labor leaders and media representatives.

Fountain serves as picturesque backdrop

Some of those community leaders had met Kennedy when he made a campaign stop in Canton prior to being elected president. JFK's photo with Mayor Charles Babcock was among the items locked inside a time capsule when the new City Hall was built in the early 1960s.

Canton's memorial is a local version of the eternal flame at Kennedy's gravesite in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

Fountains spray and mist during the warmer months, serving as a picturesque backdrop for Canton's infinite candle.

"This is the most it's ran in years," Foltz said of the fountain. "Once we got everything rehabbed, it ran pretty much June through October."

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This article originally appeared on The Repository: Canton's eternal flame still burns for JFK decades after assassination