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TO: Mayor Richard C. Irvin
FROM: Daniel Barreiro, Chief Community Services Officer
DATE: March 24, 2021
SUBJECT:
A Resolution Authorizing Approval of the Restoration and Replication of the G.A.R. Sentry Statue
PURPOSE:
To obtain City Council approval for a resolution to accept a bid from McKay Lodge Fine Arts Conservation Laboratory, Inc. from Oberlin, Ohio in the amount of $109,889.00 for the restoration and replication of the G.A.R. Sentry Statue.
BACKGROUND:
On July 4, 1878, the G.A.R. Hall opened to the public for the first time. Overlooking the City of Aurora, the G.A.R. Sentry, a cast zinc statue, stood guard. The statue is most likely a model from J.W. Fiske & Company, the most prominent American manufacturer of decorative cast iron and zinc statues. Although this piece of history required minor repairs over the years, it continued to stand guard until it was taken down in 2008. At this time, the statue was transported to a facility for repair, but fell into approximately forty-five parts. The statue was returned to the City of Aurora in 2019 and stored off-site until funds were available to complete the repairs. Later in 2019, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) notified the City of Aurora that a grant frozen in 2015 for a total of $750,000 would be accessible once more. This project will be entirely funded from this grant.
The original statue will be restored through cleaning of each section, removal of concrete in the legs, and identifying each portion. Once those steps are complete, tinning of the seams will commence in preparation for reassembly. The vendor will manufacture internal support for the statue to prevent future distortion. Seams will be soldered, and a final surface treatment and coating will conclude the restoration of the original statue.
Once the original statue is restored, the vendor will create a replica statue using one of three proposed materials (Bronze, Zinc, or Composite). If the replica is cast in b...
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