DEERFIELD — The statue of the Civil War soldier, which was taken off its plinth on the town common last fall, is one step closer toward finding a new permanent home in the town hall.
During a Selectboard meeting last Tuesday night, members approved the Historical Commission’s recommendation to award a casing contract for the soldier to Greenfield-based SmallCorp, an international business that makes museum display cases.
“Replacing it outside would essentially doom it to failure,” said Douglass Finn, town administrator. “It’s not gonna’ be renovated to the point where it can be weather-sturdy again.”
A motion to award the bid to SmallCorp was passed unanimously by the board.
The town hall was decided to be the statue’s final destination when the statue was taken down, at least in part because the hall already has another historical display (given by Deerfield Academy to hold paleolithic artifacts dating back about 1,200 years) and is close to Frontier Regional and Deerfield Elementary schools.
John Nove, Historical Commission chairman, said the local business submitted the lowest bid for the display case job, around $3,000, following a request for bids about a month ago.
The case will be paid for with funds from the Community Preservation Act.
SmallCorp’s work portfolio includes The Metropolitan Museum of Art, American Museum of Natural History and the John F Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
The statue has been temporarily stored in a protective crate inside the Deerfield Teachers’ Center Hall since late last year. Before its removal, the statue stood on the common for almost 150 years, since it was carved in the 1860s. The soldier was removed and restored based on a recommendation from Francis Miller, a conservator from ConservArt LLC of Hamden, Conn., who determined it was badly degraded and needed to be removed.
Nove said the decision to remove the statue was at least partially based on liability. He said the town didn’t want it to fall and hurt anyone.
“The statue, even with cracks repaired,” Nove said, “was not sound enough to go back on the pedestal.”
Removal and conservation of the statue was funded by almost $40,000 of Community Preservation Act money approved at a town meeting early 2015.
According to Nove, restoration included a few metal rods put into the statue to reinforce the crumbling sandstone and make it easier to transport.
Decisions about the fate of the statue have been made with input from the Historical Commission, the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield Academy, and the the town administrator.
The statue, Nove said, should be moved by September later this year. As for the monument, which remains on the town common, town officials want to cap it off with masonry for conservation and aesthetic purposes.
You can reach Andy Castillo
at: acastillo@recorder.com
or 413-772-0261, ext. 263
On Twitter: @AndyCCastillo