the city wants to give your brick back

because more than thirty years ago, thousands of people paid to have their names put on commemorative bricks at Town Square. Now with major construction underway at the park, the city is pulling up more than thirteen thousand of those bricks.

The goal is to find the original owners and give them back. There are names, anniversary dates, and business names etched into those bricks, and the city says the families they belong to deserve to have them.

Parks and Recreation staff started digging them up last Thursday. The plan is to sort and palletize all the bricks, then move them to a separate location for public pickup.

The city has not set the pickup dates yet. Those events are expected to happen sometime this summer and into early fall.

If your family had a brick, the first step is to go online now. The city's website has an inventory where you can confirm your brick is in the system, along with a map showing roughly where it was located in the park.

The pickup itself is not going to be a fully organized hand-off. The city calls it a come-and-find-your-brick experience, so plan to do some digging yourself.

Parks and Rec is also looking for volunteer groups to help sort through the bricks and assist people when pickup day arrives. Check the city's website for details.