It’s not too often you get to help commemorate a presidential legacy. Park Enterprise Construction Co., Inc. is humbled to assist in Harding 2020, a construction project to honor President Warren G. Harding, a Marion, OH native, on the 100th anniversary of his election to the nation’s highest office.
Sometimes construction first requires demolition. As planning continues for the Harding Presidential Center behind the late President’s historic home on Mount Vernon Avenue, we’ve been selected to carefully demolish a few buildings that stand in the way of this expansion.
The result will be a beautiful facility right here in our hometown to celebrate the life and works of President Harding. It’ll house a main exhibit gallery and library, as well as authentic property features like the Hardings’ apple trees, grape arbor, and horseshoe pit.
We invite our friends and neighbors to join in the excitement (you can make a contribution to the efforts here.)
“America’s present need is not heroics, but healing; not nostrums, but normalcy; not revolution, but restoration; not agitation, but adjustment; not surgery, but serenity; not the dramatic, but the dispassionate; not experiment, but equipoise; not submergence in internationality, but sustainment in triumphant nationality.” - Warren G. Harding, 29th President of the United States
Harding 2020: Cementing Marion’s Place in Presidential History
Those still living from the time Warren G. Harding paved his path to the White House likely would’ve been too young to tell the tale. So let’s brush up on our history. Who was the man from Marion who became the 29th President of the United States?
Early Life
Warren G. Harding was born Nov. 2, 1865, right down the road in what’s now Blooming Grove, OH to George and Phoebe Harding. He attended Ohio Central College at age 14 and graduated 3 years later. Mr. Harding then owned and operated the Marion Daily Star newspaper and later married Florence Kling de Wolfe, a wealthy divorcée. He was very active in community organizations and service clubs.
‘He Looked Like a President’
So said a political admirer of Mr. Harding, who at the time was a U.S. Senator heading into the 1920 Republican National Convention. An unwavering conservative Republican with a vibrant speaking voice, then-Sen. Harding mounted a popular “front porch campaign” from his home in Marion instead of a more traditional speaking tour. He won the presidency by a landslide on his 55th birthday in 1920.
In the Oval Office
President Harding, aiming to soothe a nation still recovering from the horrors of World War I, promised a return to normalcy. He championed the rights of women and minorities. The improving economy (“The Roaring ’20s) was due, in part, to fulfilling his campaign promise: “Less government in business and more business in government.”
An Untimely Death
President Harding died of a heart attack Aug. 2, 1923, while traveling in San Francisco. Following a state funeral, he was entombed at Marion Cemetery.
Park Enterprise Construction is Honored to Commemorate a Presidential Legacy
During his campaign, the nation’s eyes turned to Marion, bringing droves of supporters to hear Mr. Harding speak. It boosted the local economy then, and it’s expected to bring more than $2.2 million in direct economic impact for Marion upon completion.
We’re taking a walk into the presidential past. While we enjoy all of our construction and work (from demolition and excavation to asphalt paving and underground utility work), playing a role in Harding 2020 is truly special.
