For the past 110 years, the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial in front of the Centre County Courthouse has served as a reminder for the local men and women who unselfishly served in a branch of the U.S. military. Andrew Gregg Curtin’s statue has preserved the remarkable history of one of the county’s most influential founding fathers.
According to Sue Hannegan, assistant director of the Centre County Planning and Community Development Office, inappropriate restoration efforts made about a decade ago has allowed Mother Nature to assault the structures, causing blistering and crumbling to sections of the memorial, as well to the base of Curtin’s statue.
‘Almost every section shows some type of damage,’ said Hannegan, who noted the structures were placed in Bellefonte in 1906. ‘The granite is blistering and falling off to the extent that it’s putting the inscriptions in jeopardy. We need to begin making efforts to restore the memorials again, and do it correctly this time.’
Hannegan approached the Centre County board of commissioners July 19 to seek their support in obtaining grant funding to remedy the situation. She said the planning office is looking at a $49,475 grant from the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission through the Keystone Historic Preservation Grant program. If awarded the state money, Centre County would be required to produce a 50 percent match.
‘For the most part, both structures are in great shape, but there are some problem areas,’ said Hannegan. ‘Essentially, the problems on the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial are at the top, where it sees most of the rain. The Curtin statue’s damage all appears to be on the base of the statue.’
She said the procedure completed on the structures 10 years ago didn’t allow ‘the little particles of granite to seal together properly,’ thus allowing precipitation to get into the stone.
‘I think there is much better technology for this kind of work than there was 10 years ago,’ she said. ‘But, it will still require annual maintenance once the work is complete.’
Hannegan said if the county would be awarded the grant, the first step of the project would be to complete an existing condition report this fall. Phase I would begin in next spring and would include evaluating the structures, cleaning them and then consolidating the deteriorated stone.
‘It will take about a year to dry,’ she said.
In summer 2018, Phase II would begin, which would include plaque inspections as well as repointing. The project’s expected completion would come in September 2018.
‘I think it’s important we continue to do what we can to preserve the wonderful history of Centre County,’ said Commissioner Steve Dershem. ‘This project is something that we have to do, and continue to monitor the memorial and statues more closely in the years to come.’
