photo by Wes Schultz
Preservation work is underway on the Illinois Monument on Missionary Ridge, Cathleen Cook, Chickamauga Park superintendent, said.
She told members of the Missionary Ridge Neighborhood Association, "As promised when I met with your group in early spring, following is an informal notification regarding a National Park Service project beginning on the Illinois Monument at Bragg Reservation this week. The park is excited to have a team of preservation specialist from the Historic Preservation Training Center in Frederick, Md., here to conduct preservation work on the Illinois Monument beginning today through the end of July.
"The HPTC crew, which is made up of masons, medal conservators and
exhibit specialists, will be cleaning all stone surfaces, re-pointing
joints, cleaning and waxing all metal statues and plaques, and inspecting the monument for other repair needs.
"You will notice the scaffolding and equipment in the area surrounding the monument. The area around the monument is fenced off and since this is a construction zone, it is temporarily closed to protect the public while the crew completes this important preservation work on or about July 27. The staff wishes to apologize for any inconvenience that these activities might cause park visitors and neighbors.
"The crew will be working Monday through Friday and the equipment will not be started up until 7:30 a.m. Park staff conducted a door-to-door inquiry regarding the 7:30 a.m. start time, and the neighbors that they were able to contact were agreeable to a 7:30 a.m. equipment start time.
"The preservation crew will be using walnut shell blasting to clean the
statuary beginning next week, which may take up to two weeks to complete. The crew will watch the wind direction, but there may be some dust from the walnut shell blasting that filters out in the immediate area. This is the preferred method over using a chemical process.
"In assessing the monument and preservation work needed, it was
recommended that the NPS remove the large tree on the west elevation directly adjacent to the Illinois Monument. The tree exudes a chemical that is contributing to the deterioration and staining of the granite and statuary. The tree's height and close proximity to the monument is also a concern. The tree will be removed in the coming weeks as part of this project.
"In addition, the park is awaiting additional funding from Washington to
complete the clean-up from the April 27 storm. DeLong and Sherman
Reservations remain closed until we receive the funding to contract out for the removal of downed trees at these two reservations. I do not have a time estimate on when we will receive that funding, it may be after Oct. 1.
"Clean-up work is continuing on the trails at Lookout Mountain with
the emergency storm damage funding that has been made available to the park. In total, 565 trees fell throughout the park during that storm event.
"We were fortunate that no park buildings and, to date, no monuments were found to be damaged."