New York Peace Monument Receives Preservation Facelift

Date: April 17, 2015
Contact: Jim Szyjkowski, 423-752-5213 x121

Fort Oglethorpe, GA: Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park is pleased to announce that the New York Peace Monument is currently receiving a long overdue preservation facelift. This iconic Civil War memorial located within Point Park, atop Lookout Mountain, last received a thorough cleaning in 1988. Veterans from New York erected the monument in 1907 with some deliberate reconciliation connotations. Thebronze soldiers, one Union and one Confederate, are shaking hands underneath the United States flag. Also, the monument was constructed of Tennessee marble and Massachusetts granite, mixed together to signify the rebirth of the country.

Gordon Ponsford, a conservator from Acworth, GA, has been contracted to conduct this current preservation
work. His crew has been busy washing all the stone surfaces, re-pointing joints, cleaning and waxing bronze plaques, and inspecting the monument for other repair needs.

On Monday, April 20, they are scheduled to bring in a lift to work on the 85 foot tall granite column and
bronze statue at the top of the monument. The areas directly surrounding the monument will be temporarily closed to the public while the crew completes their work. The staff wishes to apologize for any
inconvenience these activities might cause park visitors.

The park is using Point Park entry fee money to cover the $150,000 cost of preserving this important
piece of our nation's history. Money collected by fees has also been used to rehabilitate the Point Park Visitor
Center and the Ochs Museum on Lookout Mountain.

This preservation work is timely as the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park prepares to
commemorate its 125^th Anniversary later this year, and the National Park Service looks forward to celebrating its 100^th Anniversary in 2016.