Work Begins On Iwo Jima Statue Restoration

The one-third scale replica of the original Marine Corps War Memorial, created by Felix W. DeWeldon is only one of three in the world. Due to weather and time, the statue had deteriorated to the point that cracks and breaks were beginning to threaten the integrity of the statue.

For almost two years, the Craig T. Fuller Foundation has been raising funds to restore the statue and along with the Marine Corps League, went in front of the city council in December of last year and was able to secure help in funding to restore the statue. Over the last three months, the city has been taking bids for the project and cost for restoring the statue is expected to be near $80,000.

On Wednesday crews laid down a plywood system to protect the bricks around the statue and began removing the granite from around the base of the statue. The next step will be removing the lava rock from around the base of the soldiers and installing scaffolding around the statue itself.

View Iwo Jima Statue Restoration Photo Gallery

George Colom, a Commandant with the Marine Corps League says they won’t know how long the project will take until they start getting into the interior of the statue to see the extent of work that needs to be done, but they are hopeful to have the statue restored sometime this summer.