Family "absolutely shocked," discovers City of Bloomington removed memorial for late son
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — It was a shocking discovery nearly 30 years after losing a child. A Minnesota family says a memorial honoring their 6-year-old son stood in a Bloomington park, until recently when they found out city crews removed it.
"There's something missing that should be here," Erik Gusaas said.
He visited Dred Scott Park with his children for the first time Tuesday evening.
"There was a granite memorial 39 inches tall, which was how tall my brother was when he passed away," he said.
His brother Kirk died from congenital heart defects in 1996, two days after his sixth birthday. After his death, his parents, Karen and Robert, raised around $25,000 from nearly 200 people and groups in the community. They donated the money to the city of Bloomington to build basketball courts and a monument in honor of Kirk, called 'Kirks Hoops.' It was unveiled in August of 1997.
"Everyone just came together in a joyful way to celebrate a life cut short and to give back and do something good for the community for other children to enjoy," his mother Karen Gusaas said.
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Eventually, the family moved out of Bloomington and to another city in Minnesota. They returned to the area in September and stopped by to see the memorial, only to find it had been removed.
"Absolutely shocked," Karen Gusaas said.
The family said the city never told them it was going to be removed. When WCCO asked the city about this, Assistant City Manager Mike Sable said in an email they attempted to contact them but didn't have updated contact information since they moved out of the city.
"The first question is why. Why was this removed? This was an agreement with the city for this whole memorial," Robert Gusaas said.
Sable said the monument was removed during a remodeling project at the basketball courts. He also pointed to a policy change.
"The city's donation policy no longer allows tombstones in public parks. The policy accepts donations for memorial trees, benches, and other park structures," he wrote.
The family said the monument was not considered a tombstone.
"As a grieving family looking to bring tens of thousands of dollars as a gift to the city to do something good, what reasonable person would think to ask the city for a contract at that point in time?" Karen Gusaas said.
The city offered them benches to honor Kirk instead, but the family wants an apology and for the memorial to be returned to its original place.
"I make mistakes every day, and when you make mistakes, own it, act on it and apologize. And most importantly, do the right thing," Erik Gusaas said.