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Date: 3/2/2022
HOLYOKE – The familiar statue honoring the city’s residents who died while fighting in the Civil War will be receiving needed renovations.
The statue, “Goddess of Victory,” located in Veterans’ Park was erected in 1876 and the effort to preserve it has been assisted by two grants – a $10,000 donation from PeoplesBank and a $1,000 donation from Easthampton Savings Bank.
The City Council accepted the donations on behalf of the city at its Feb. 15 meeting. Councilor Joseph McGiverin said the monument to the war dead is “in dire need” of repairs. Councilor Kevin Jourdain noted, the memorial is “of tremendous significance to the history of the city.”
According to the Massachusetts Civil War Monuments Project, the statue was dedicated as part of the nation’s Centennial in 1876. It was designed by Maurice Power at the National Fine Arts Foundry in New York.
Fifty-five Holyokers are listed on the stature, which also has four bas-relief placques depicting the life of a Union soldier.
City Engineer Robert Peirent explained to Reminder Publishing the nature of the repairs. “The project has a number of different components including cleaning and restoration of the patina on the bronze portions of the monument as well as replacement of some missing/damaged components of the bronze items, cleaning and stabilization of the granite portions of the monument, creating of a new bronze honor roll mounted on a granite base for Holyoke residents who served in the Civil War, additional lighting of the monument and miscellaneous site improvements,” he said.
He added, “The grants that have been received combined with CPA [Community Preservation Act] funding and a $50,000 FY22 legislative earmark supported by [state] Sen. Velis should provide enough funding to complete the full restoration project.”
In terms of a schedule he said, “We expect work to start this spring so that the earmark funds can be expended before the end of FY22 and the overall project is scheduled to be completed by Nov. 1.”