BAKERSFIELD, Calif.– Earlier in August, Citizens were able to stop the Bakersfield city council from removing commemorative bricks in front of CentennialPlaza. However; some bricks were removed years ago, without notifying the people who paid for them.
A local World War II veteran honored his son with a commemorative brick after his son died from AIDS.
Jimmie Hill, a local veteran who purchased a brick to honor his son Kevin, who died in 1996, said that nobody told him that it was going to be removed.
"When they were put in, they were supposed to be forever,” Hill said. “And forever ain’t over yet."
In 1998, Hill and his wife spent $100 to purchase a brick in Kevin’s name in front of the plaza, borrowing the money from Hill’s sister-in-law.
A couple of years ago, the brick was removed due to damage. Hill said he was not informed.
A family friend, who happened to be a part of the crew that was removing bricks that day, collected Kevin’s brick. He gave it to Hill’s daughter, who then delivered it to Hill.
Now, the brick rests on the ground above Kevin’s remains, in the garden of the home he grew up in.
Hill wants others to find out what happened to their bricks, but doesn’t want Kevin’s to go back to the plaza.
Bakersfield City Councilman Terry Maxwell said the city wasn’t adequately equipped to deal with the damaged bricks. He said he believes the administration made a poor decision by throwing them away, and that there “is just no doubt” that multiple peoples’ bricks have been removed.
“I would like to think that we can go back and figure out who has bricks there that did get destroyed, and replace them,” Maxwell said.
According to Maxwell, the council is in the beginning stages of addressing the problem, but he wants to find a way to replace the bricks which were removed.