An Aurora City Council committee has recommended two contracts to fix artwork at the GAR Hall and Museum downtown.
The contracts would restore four fresco paintings inside the museum, as well as the Sentry statue that once stood atop the building.
Both would be paid for out of the $750,000 grant for restoration at the GAR Hall the city received several years ago from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The Public Health, Safety and Transportation Committee recently recommended both contracts.
“We’ve talked about this for decades, and I’m really, really happy all the grant money came in,” said Ald. Michael Saville, 6th Ward, a committee member. “It’s good for Aurora.”
The committee recommended a $41,134 contract with Third Coast Conservation L. Liparini Studio, of Chicago, for restoration of the four paintings. It also recommended a $109,889 contract with McKay Lodge Fine Arts Conservation Laboratory Inc., of Oberlin, Ohio, to restore the Sentry statue.
Eric Pry, GAR Museum curator, said the four fresco paintings are of Abraham Lincoln; George Washington; Gen. George Thomas, a Union general during the Civil War; and Admiral David Farragut, a Union flag officer in the U.S. Navy during the Civil War.
The paintings have accumulated years of soot on them from the original heating system in the building, the oil lamps that were burned there and from cigar smoke. Sometime between 1964 and 1966, there was some restoration of the paintings done, and someone applied a protective barrier of some kind, Pry said.
“It trapped all that smoke and soot damage,” he said.
Today, when the overhead lights are turned on, the paintings are hardly visible because of glare off the protective layer, Pry said.
The plan is to strip the protective layer off, then use a cleaning solution that will take off the soot without taking off the paint.
Pry said Third Coast Conservation is hoping to get the restoration done in 41/2 weeks.
“This is very exciting,” said Ald. Patty Smith, 8th Ward, a committee member. “I can’t wait to see them.”
The Sentry statue was on top of the building when it opened in 1878. It has been talked about for years, particularly since it was removed from the top of the building in 2008.
J.W. Fisk did the statue. The company did statuary for many buildings, occasions and memorials. Many were done for GAR halls across the country. There is a Fisk statue in Rockford, and one on the Newton War Memorial to Civil War soldiers in the Batavia Cemetery along Route 31.
The statue was done to honor the common soldier in the Union Army that fought in the Civil War, Pry said. One theory says it was modeled after a soldier who was a friend of J.W. Fisk.
While there were many of them back in the late 1800s, Pry said “there are only handful of them left” today.
In the 1960s, the Sentry statue was taken down, had some concrete poured on its legs, and put back up. The Sentry had lost his musket, and a shower curtain rod replaced it.
When it was taken down again in 2008, it was to be restored, but it fell into several pieces. The conservator that was to restore it could no longer do it for the money quoted, so the pieces were put into storage.
Pry said the city plans to have the pieces put back together, then have a cast mold made from it, and another statue made from that mold. It would be made of material more durable.
He said the museum would put the new statue on top of the hall, and the original, restored statue on display in the museum.
The GAR Museum has been closed during the coronavirus pandemic. When it reopens, it is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays and Saturday, and also during city events. The museum also is open for special tours by calling the city to make a reservation.
slord@tribpub.com
