Back to Church

Last night was my second visit to the Indiana Landmarks Center.

I went to hear a presentation by the architect and engineer responsible 

for the restoration of Victory, the statue atop the Indianapolis

Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument. I was surprised to find that the

talk was also an AIA continuing education program.

I took a seat below the rotunda just so I could take the picture above.

The top picture was taken during the day and shows the ceiling's white

paint with gold trim. When it was restored, lighting was installed

to allow for changes according to the kind of event or 

wishes of the client. Last night, it was pink and gold although

I'd also seen blue and green. The painted decoration is a neutral scheme

which seems to adapt well to whichever lighting is selected.

This is the main entrance to the ILC's Cook Grand Theater, 

made up of three doors, the one shown being the largest.

Painstaking attention was paid to the entire building, 

with a lot of effort going into the restoration of the 

pipe organ, built in 1892 by Thomas Prentiss Sanborn.

The main sanctuary of the former Central Avenue Methodist Church

has been rechristened as the Cook Grand Theater and is available

for meetings, concerts and weddings. (Anybody up for a pink and gold

wedding with a beautiful pipe organ to provide the music?)

Sadly, not many pictures I took last night of the speakers 

were any good, but here is Tory Emery, the project

engineer in charge of Victory's restoration. She is employed by

Arsee Engineers, Incorporated of Fishers Indiana, which has 

long experience in the preservation of historic buildings.

Anybody got a statue they want shifted for repairs?

Victory Flys Home

Victory was returned to the Circle on Labor Day weekend and placed in the Northwest Quadrant.
Ready for her close-up, a lot of visitors took the only opportunity they might have to see her
on the ground for another 100-150 years. 

I journeyed downtown early last Tuesday morning, the day after Labor Day, to see Victory being restored to her perch atop the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, but high winds and rain caused the work to be delayed. The manager said that the lift itself would not take long, but the statue and the steel frame supporting her had only about four inches of clearance allowing her to be dropped down into the workers' scaffolding and onto the armature and bolts that would secure her. The crane operator needed for the wind speed to be 20 miles per hour or less in order to safely return the statue to her home. However, every time I'd looked at the anemometer on the top of the crane's boom, it was spinning at a good clip and never abated long enough to allow the task to be done. 

Workmen in a cherry-picker crane preparing to install braided nylon
rope to allow the crane to lift Victory's steel cage, without damaging the statue.

The lift had been re-scheduled for 8 a.m. this past Monday and, as I turned the corner at Meridian to head for the Circle it was about 10 minutes before 8, I figured I had time to make it. I looked up towards the Monument and  -- there she was! -- drawn up by the crane to the very tip of its boom. Victory had begun her return to her home thirty minutes ahead of schedule and was poised above the scaffolding in preparation for placement on her base. While I was disappointed, I knew that someone would surely post video on YouTube I could see later. They did and you can view it below.

Workmen work to guide Victory into place as the crane
slowly lowers the statue into the scaffolding

I did stay to take pictures of my own and watched as Victory was gradually lowered into place. That process took about an hour as the workmen carefully aligned her with the sixteen bolts that had been installed to attach her to the base. That done, they will further secure her with over 100 additional bolts to the armature/column protruding from the Monument. 

When the statue originally was created 118 years ago, the technology was not available to install her in one piece. Instead, workmen used horse-drawn pulleys to haul Victory in over forty pieces to the top of the Monument. Welding processes were just in their infancy and the technology was not available for use, particularly for bronze. Consequently, the pieces were assembled on top of the Monument using a series of metal pins which were hammered into holes in the statue, hooked over to grip from inside to secure the elements. Over time, the holes became corroded and allowed water to seep inside the statue.

The problem was found in 2009 during other restoration work on the Monument and Victory was removed in April 2011 to a nearby airplane hanger where she was cleaned, most of the holes filled and sealed. She was then reassembled and welded together. Her torch has been gilded with 23-carat gold and, it is agreed, she is beautiful.

Now that she has been returned, portions of her exterior will be replaced and welded in place. She will then be smoothed, patinaed and polished with wax. The scaffolding will be removed and Victory, her make-over complete, should resume vigil over the city in a couple weeks, her golden torch shining in the sun.

   

Victory in Bondage

After being repaired and refurbished, the 19,000-pound, 38-foot tall sculpture by George Brewster, Victory, AKA Miss Indiana, will be returned to her aerie atop the Soldiers & Sailors Monument early Tuesday morning. She'd been removed from her perch last spring, a place she'd held since she was placed there, facing south, in 1893. 

Victory returned to the Circle Friday on a flatbed trailer. Encased in a steel cage and wrapped with yellow CAUTION tape, she was placed next to the crane which will return her to her vigil early Tuesday morning. People came to look her over and take pictures, the closest opportunity anyone has had to see the Lady who's watched over the city since before we were born.

The renovation work marked the first time Victory was removed from the Monument, since she was first hauled to the top 118 years ago with horses and pulleys. A large red crane, balanced with massive counter-weights, has been in place for months as renovation work was done to the 285-foot high Monument; it's assignment on Tuesday will be daunting nonetheless, as the horsepower of its engine replaces the draft horses used over a century ago.