The City of Pottsville is developing a plan to clean and patch its monument to 18th-century Kentucky statesman Henry Clay, City Administrator Thomas A. Palamar said Monday.
It's been more than a decade since there's been an effort to clean it.
"It's time for us to assess the situation," Palamar said.
This week, the paint on the once ivory-colored pedestal was cracked and stained with streaks of orange rust. The elements are slowly wearing away the script on the original dedication stone, which is on the east side of the monument's base. The concrete holding the stone in place is also chipping away.
"That should be repaired," David Derbes, the executive director of the Schuylkill County Historical Society, said Wednesday when shown a photo of that section of the monument taken Monday.
Today is Independence Day and it's also the 158th anniversary of the statue's dedication July 4, 1855, according to a stone marker on the north side of the statue's base.
Palamar said the local philanthropist who led restoration and rededication of the monument in 1985, Steven Cotler, Pottsville, recently contacted him to discuss the monument.
Together, they're putting together a new Henry Clay Monument Committee, which includes Palamar and Daniel E. Kelly, city superintendent of streets.
"Our first step is we have to go up to the site and say 'Let's look to see what we really need to do here. Does it need to be cleaned and painted? Do the grounds need some TLC? Does the lighting need some attention?' " Palamar said Monday.
The group is working on a plan. Palamar expects a draft to be ready by August and the city will hold fundraisers to finance it.
For example, the city is selling limited edition prints of a painting of Clay by the late David W. Naydock. The city commissioned the art in 1995. A stack of them, all signed and numbered by Naydock, remains in Palamar's office.
"There were only 187 prints made. I'm not sure how many we have left in stock but they are signed and numbered. Each are $100," Palamar said.
A Pottsville native known for his numerous murals, Naydock, 52, of Pottsville, died Jan. 20.
The history
Peter Yasenchak, historical society executive director, said the monument is important to the city for numerous reasons.
"When people come into town, it's the first thing they see. And some wonder 'Who is that guy up there?' and 'What is he doing up there?' and 'Why is he there?' " Yasenchak said Wednesday.
A U.S. congressman and statesman, Clay was born April 12, 1777, in Hanover County, Va., according to biography.com.
Called "The Great Compromiser," Clay was known for his efforts to protect fledgling American industries by supporting a tariff on imported goods.
"The tariff protected iron and indirectly the mining of anthracite coal," Leo L. Ward, Pottsville, said in a history of the "Henry Clay Monument" published in 1985. Ward was the book's editor.
When Clay died June 29, 1852, a committee of local officials decided to pay tribute to him with the monument, Ward said.
The 15-foot tall statue sits on a more than 40-foot tall iron column of Grecian Doric architecture. The total weight of the statue and the column is 45 1/2 tons, according to the June 30, 1855, edition of the "Miners Journal."
The statue was made by Robert Wood, Philadelphia, and the total cost of the monument was $7,151, according to an article Ward wrote on the historical society's website, schuylkillhistory.org.
"There were two reasons to erect the monument. They were patriotism and politics. The members of the committee felt that Clay was the greatest American since George Washington and that he should be honored in that spirit of patriotism. (Benjamin) Bannan's "Miners Journal" was a Whig paper which strongly supported Clay in his political aspirations. The leaders of the Clay Monument Committee were largely members of the Whig party. A strong case can be made for the political motivations behind the monument," Ward said in the book's "Introduction."
In 1983, a second Henry Clay Monument Committee was formed to repair and clean the monument, led by Cotler.
"The statue was taken down from its column, refurbished, unveiled, and replaced on its column once again to become a familiar landmark in Pottsville. The work was completed in 1985," Ward said on schuylkillhistory.org.
The monument was rededicated on Oct. 19, 1985.
The last time there was an effort to maintain the monument was in the mid-1990s, Palamar said.
It isn't the only tribute to Clay in Schuylkill County.
"When Ashland was laid out in 1847 by Samuel Lewis, it was named for Clay's famous Ashland estate near Lexington, Kentucky," Ward said in the 1985 history.
Ward, longtime president of the Schuylkill County Historical Society, died in May 2008.