Restored Union Soldier Returned to Cemetery Monument

Renown conservator Andrzej Dajnowski is accustomed to a challenge.

But, even for him and his colleague David Czerniejwski at Conservation of Sculpture and Objects Studio in Forest Park, restoring Crystal Lake's 122-year-old zinc Union soldier statue was a tough job.

"It was very hard," Dajnowski said on Friday as he and his team, accompanied by Charlie Copley of Copley Roofing, returned the Union soldier - along with a new rifle - to the top of his monument in Union Cemetery, located just off Woodstock Street near city hall.

"This material is very difficult to work with," Dajnowski said. "Imagine working inside that base for a couple hours on a hot day."

Still Dajnowski was pleased with the final restoration, as was the crowd of 30 locals who waited and watched patiently as the soldier was lifted by crane and secured atop the 18.5-foot-tall monument, where he has stood since erected on Sept. 11, 1889, to honor veterans of the Civil War.

When completed, the crowd clapped and cheered, and one woman asked everyone to say the Pledge of Allegiance together. Many of the attendees were present on the very cold November day back in 2006 when the deteriorating soldier was taken down from the monument, again with the help of Copley Roofing, 4709 E. Terra Cotta, Crystal Lake.

At that time, the soldier was leaning backwards, and residents feared he would fall off altogether.

"The monument seems complete again," said Sandy Young, of Crystal Lake, a member of the Crystal Lake Historical Society. "This has not been the same every time we've had our Memorial Day ceremony. I think we took him for granted all those years."

Several members of the Historical Society were in attendance Friday including Diana and Bill Kenney, Shirley McCoy, Linda Stengle and Dee Zellman.

The group has spent the past six years raising money for the overall project, which included adding curbing, brick pavers, electrical for spotlights, water pipeline so visitors can water flowers for grave sites, and a flag pole.

"This has been a six-year project of the Crystal Lake Historical Society," Diana Kenney said. " The Society has raised over $60,000 in private donations to accomplish the restoration and improvements to this important monument."

American Legion Post 171, 406 W. Woodstock St., donated $20,000 to the project, said 87-year-old World War II veteran Richard Biestek, of Crystal Lake, who sat in the shade Friday to watch the soldier reinstated to his command post.

The restoration work itself cost $38,000, Diana Kenny said.

The repairs included constructing a new rifle as the lower portion of the orginal rifle was stolen decades ago by vandals. Over time, seamwork had separated and water seeped inside the monument, rusting out part of the structure's support system, Kenney said.

Dajnowski and his staff replaced the interior support system with stainless steel, hopefully fortifying the monument for a long time to come.

The monument and soldier were manufactured by the American Bronze Co. in Chicago using zinc, also called "white bronze" in the 1800s.The product was cheaper than real bronze.

Though less expensive, the zinc metal provides a clear definition of monument's details including the names of 379 area veterans who served, died, or were taken prisoner during the Civil War. Names of surviving area veterans of the War of 1812 also are etched on one of the panels.

Originally, Crystal Lake's Union Soldier memorial was intended to pay tribute to Civil War veterans. Now, with the restoration work, it serves as a memorial to veterans of all wars.

The new brick-paver program, where people can buy a brick and inscribe the name of a serviceman or woman onto it,  is open to all veterans, even those who never lived in Crystal Lake, Kenney said.