ALTON - Community members can purchase a brick to be dedicated at James Killion Park.
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The James Killion Beautification and Enhancement Committee is sponsoring a brick campaign to install personalized bricks around the bandshell at James Killion Park in Alton. For $200, you and your family or business can have a 12 by 12 concrete brick in the park.
“The brick campaign came to be to have people in our community have ownership of what’s going on at Killion Park,” said Lee Barham, Brick Campaign Chair. “It’s also a way to enlighten people about what’s going on at Killion Park. We’ve got a new bathroom. We’ve got an amphitheater. It’s just the growth. That’s the first park people see coming and going from Alton.”
Barham explained that the campaign aims to beautify the park while inspiring people to learn about its namesake, James Killion. The new amphitheater was recently dedicated at a ribbon-cutting ceremony that honored Killion.
The campaign has already installed 28 bricks around the amphitheater. Barham said they’re looking to sell at least 30 more bricks to complete the project. Individuals, families and businesses can purchase bricks.
The designs on the bricks can be intricate. Barham’s own brick features a family tree, while others have varying font sizes and illustrations.
“You can be elaborate and make designs for it,” he said. “You can be an artist. We’re encouraging people to be artists about it.”
The committee will continue the campaign until the amphitheater is completely paved with personalized bricks, but Barham encouraged people to get their orders in by July 2, 2025, if they wish to have their brick installed by Labor Day.
He emphasized the importance of caring for James Killion Park and learning about Alton history, including Killion’s impact on the community as the first Black person hired by Laclede Steel, the first person of color from Alton to enlist in the U.S. Army during World War II, and an advocate for Alton’s youth and Black community.
Barham hopes the brick campaign convinces people to come out to the park, enjoy the events sponsored by the James Killion Beautification and Enhancement Committee, and support the park’s continued growth and upkeep.
“James Killion was one of our own. We always do history about other people and other areas. He was our own community activist,” Barham added. “Alton is full of rich history, and this way, you are promoting what is homegrown…There’s great people that have come through this town, and by this way here, we are promoting us.”
For more information about the brick campaign or the James Killion Beautification and Enhancement Committee, contact Barham at abarham@cityofaltonil.gov.
