As the work continues in the effort to restore the South Boston World War II Memorial after the damage that was caused to it, calls, emails and social media posts continue to come in to South Boston Today, not only from the neighborhood, but also from locations far and wide, seeking information regarding the progress.
This newspaper has been checking in with State Representative David Biele, who has been at the location quite often, monitoring the work on a regular basis and he has been kind enough to keep us updated so that we can relay the news to the public. As was stated in last week’s update, a substance has been found that can do the job. Many products were tried, but it seems ‘Poultice’ is the one that works. It gets the oil stains out and leaves the area’s treated looking as good as new. Representative Biele has emphasized that it will take time, because the air temperature must be above 70 degrees in order for the Poultice to work properly and the weather certainly has not been cooperating. If this was summertime, things would be moving more quickly.
But since it’s still just early April, the process will be a bit more time consuming. It must be done methodically and slowly, if it is to be done correctly. The applications of the Poultice itself can take between 24 to 96 hours, each application, to get all of the oil out. Each section must be done separately, and great care must be taken to make sure there is no damage to the lettering on the plaques affixed to the granite surface.
The agencies are all still committed to working together in a joint effort to get the job done and done right. Massport, the MBTA, DCR, the City of Boston are on board and have been. The original architect, Robert Shurer also continues to be involved. Mr. Shurer was one of so many people who put heart and soul in to the goal of building this beautiful memorial. The Department of the Interior and the National Park’s Service have sent experts up from Louisiana to help as well. Private companies are involved, and all of these resources combined have made this effort very impressive with so many experts and professionals in the field making restoring the monument a priority.
We also spoke with John ‘Bubba’ Maddox from the MBTA a while ago, who as most know is a lifelong South Bostonian himself and he informed us that the ‘T’ has committed to adding a protective substance to the renovated monument once it has been restored. This will be very important in the event someone was again to deface it. The protective coating would make it much easier to restore the surface.
So this is the status of the restoration to this point. As was stated, the effort is ongoing and will not stop until the memorial is completely restored. The South Boston WW II Memorial is one of several monuments in South Boston which honors our neighborhood’s true heroes as Southie is a place that has always held our nation’s veterans; past and present in high esteem. There is one request that the experts and the professionals have stressed as being very important. They ask that residents please not attempt to clean the monument on their own. When it was first defaced, residents, with the best of intentions, attempted to remove the oil with various kinds of cleaners. Those efforts were commendable and were certainly from the heart. But this complicated the process and, in some cases, made it more difficult to restore and could have caused damage. The best way to get it done is to let the process in place make it happen. With a little patience, good work and a few prayers, South Boston will have its beautiful WW II Memorial back before we know it.
