The Solider's and Sailors Monument in Indianapolis is undergoing repairs (VisitIndy.com Photo)

INDIANAPOLIS (WOWO): Restoration of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in downtown Indianapolis should be completed ahead of schedule.
Repairs to the bronze astragals, the bands that go around the monument that represent the Army and Navy, has progressed more quickly than expected in recent months, and the Indiana War Memorials Commission now says it should be completed by July 1 rather than the earlier projected date of August 1.

 “Because of the great craftsmanship that we had from our contractors and everybody involved, we got a little bit ahead of schedule even though we had some iffy weather,” said Gen. Stewart Goodwin (Ret.), the commission‘s executive director. Crews began looking at the monument, which was completed in 1901 after 13 years of construction, after water began leaking inside in November 2014. Goodwin says workers found problems with some of the bronze bolts holding the astragals in place.

“Several of them had actually snapped in two, and the astragal was beginning to pull away from the stone,” said Goodwin. Emergency repairs began around Thanksgiving, but they were delayed into 2015 due to the annual Circle of Lights. Initial work focused on the south side of the monument, but then the other sides were checked. “What we found were some similarities in the astragal structure that needed some tightening up.”

The bronze bolts have been replaced with some made from stainless steel, which Goodwin says were not available at the time of the monument‘s construction and which should last longer than the original bronze bolts. The original goal was to have the work done by May, but the extent of damage around the astragals pushed that date back to August. Fortunately, Goodwin says, the repair went smoothly after crews got started. “

The important part about all this is that we will get the scaffolding down, the monument will be back for another month of visitors that come to our great city and see the monument in all the beauty that it really presents.”

Goodwin has not said how much the repairs will cost the commission. “We haven‘t gotten all the final numbers, but it will be a little less than what was programmed.”