DOWAGIAC — Early this week construction crews were seen donning green and orange vests in downtown Dowagiac as they tore down a beloved town landmark.

The gazebo in Beckwith Park was torn down this week after city leaders deemed it unsafe for the public due to settling, termite damage and rot in the gazebo’s posts. The demolition of the gazebo is just one part of a greater plan to renovate, excavate and improve the safety of Beckwith Park, which is riddled with trip hazards, settling ground and safety concerns, according to city officials.

Now, city residents are mourning the loss of the landmark, which served as a gathering place where they made all kinds of memories, from weddings to senior portrait photoshoots.

For Dowagiac resident Kimberly Proffitt, the gazebo held many special memories of her late mother, who would often dance under the shade of the gazebo on Thursdays during the city’s summer concert series.

“We went almost every Thursday for two or three years before [my mother] passed in 2016,” Proffitt said. “If the music was right, she would get right up there and dance. … It is such a special memory.”

Though Proffitt said she was sad the gazebo was demolished, she understood by the city took it down, as she has seen the settling in the park for years. Once the renovation of Beckwith Park is complete, she said she would like to see another gazebo put in the old one’s place where she could create more memories.

“I would like to see something really similar as it’s not that big of an area,” she said. “I’m not opposed to change, but it was very nice the way it was.”

Dorrena Carpenter, also of Dowagiac, was similarly sad to see the gazebo torn down. For her, the gazebo reminds her of her son, who often sang at the gazebo as a member of the school choir.

“There are so many memories and they all happened at the gazebo,” Carpenter said. “We have all the memories of the kids singing there and putting on a lot of performances there. It makes me sad to see it go.”

More than just carrying memories, Carpenter said they gazebo added a sense of community and uniqueness to Dowagiac that she now feels is lost.

“When they redo the park, I would love to see a gazebo go back up,” she said. “It was a lot of fun and just something that everyone could do and enjoy. We really need something here that is for people of all ages.”

City Manager Kevin Anderson said the removal of the gazebo, a project which cost the city between $2,600 to $2,800, was necessary as the damage to the structure was too far gone to salvage.

“It was time for it to come down, so we had the contractor come and they are doing a good job being careful and not damaging other things,” he said. “There was too much damage to save any of the materials.”

The removal of the gazebo is the first step in a potentially $450,000 to $500,000 project to renovate Beckwith Park. The park, which was built on the rubble of the historic Beckwith Theatre, has been settling for years as the improperly disposed of materials moving and decomposing under the park’s surface, creating trip hazards.

Though there are no concrete plans to replace the gazebo, Anderson said the city council is considering the option, and the city could even repurchase the exact model that stood in the park until Tuesday.

However, that could be years away, as the city currently does not have a timeline for how long the project will take, and must also work with a private property owners who owns a building adjacent to the park, Anderson said.

“We don’t know for sure [when we can redo the park],” he said. “There are some things we need to do with the building next door. That will, in part, determine when we can start.”

Until then, Anderson said the city is working hard to preserve the history of the park, taking care to move all the sculptures within the park. Most notably, the city has worked to preserve the engraved bricks, bought by residents, that once sat around the gazebo. Last month, volunteers and city workers took pictures of the bricks prior to being taken out to keep an inventory of where the bricks were grouped.

“What we’ve done is carefully pick all those bricks up and place them in a single layer on a pallet, then put protective cloth over them and added another layer, so they wouldn’t get scratched up,” Anderson said. “We then wrapped those in shrink wrap and we are taking those and restoring those where a public works garage is. They have been set for replacement at a time we can do that.”

Though he said he understands that the community is disappointed to see the gazebo go, Anderson said he and the city council are doing what is best to ensure the safety and preservation of Beckwith Park.

“We are sad, too. This isn’t what we wanted when we started out,” Anderson said of the gazebo’s demolition. “Once we saw [the damage to the structure], we, for the sake of the public, couldn’t leave it there. … Immediately, we are taking steps to make sure everyone is safe and in the long term, we are going to take steps to restore it to make it the kind of place it has been for the last 30 years.”