At the West Otago Community Board's meeting on Wednesday, member John Herbert said that after initial discussions with the community, a proposed war memorial for the former township had been well-received.
The idea was brought to the board's attention in March, and members agreed to speak to the West Otago community to gauge if there was public support for it.
Mr Herbert said the board would be working closely with the West Otago branch of the Gore RSA on the project.
The Kelso-Glenkenich area in West Otago was quite big "in its day", he said. In the 1960s and 1970s, Kelso had a population thought to be near 300. It had a three-teacher primary school, shops and hotels, and a railway line ran through the centre of town.
It also had a large rural centre with saleyards, a Presbyterian church, a telephone exchange and a town hall.
Two big floods in the space of two years sealed the township's fate.
The "100-year flood" of 1978 swept through Kelso, but the town was rebuilt, only to be wiped off the map when another flood struck in 1980.
After the clean-up in 1980, government agencies and local catchment boards prevented any further building in the flooded area and Kelso ceased to exist.
The Kelso honours board was hung alongside the Heriot honours board in the Heriot Community Centre after the township was officially abandoned in 1981.
"If you're driving through the area, there's nowhere for relatives of those who served in the two world wars to pay their respects," Mr Herbert said.
The proposed war memorial would reproduce the names of those on the Kelso honours board - both the fallen, and those who served.
Signwriters had been asked for quotes, and further discussion about the memorial's form would be held with the RSA, he said.
At this stage, it is proposed the war memorial is placed near the Kelso flood memorial.
