Spanish American War Memorial Sculpture Restoration

Blind Eye Restoration was contracted by the City of Columbus, Ohio to clean and restore the Spanish American War Memorial over the course of 2023 and 2024. The first summer was a focus on the bronze plaque restoration and replaceing the sealer around the plaque. Unfortunately in the midst of our restoration, damage was done to the sculpture overnight when it was somehow pushed offcenter on its base which cased the bottom of the soft stone plinth to crumble. We came back in the summer of 2024 to pin the plinth to the base to avoid similar future movement and then the base of the plinth was reconstructed with a masonry restoration product. 

A fun detail to share is that during the pinning process, while the plinth was off the base, we found a time capsule hidden in the mortar between the two. It was a page from the Columbus dispatch from Oct 5, 1938, (which you can see HERE if you are a member of the library) when the monument was erected. The page was far too damaged to return to the hiding spot, so with City approval we replaced it with a copy of the Dispatch from the day of the restoration. We love being a part of the history we maintain!