Wheaton Park District Restoring WWI Obelisk Memorial in Northside Park
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 4, 2017
Wheaton, Ill.—For the next few months, anyone who walks, runs, bikes, or drives past the entrance of the Wheaton Park District’s Northside Park (1300 N. West St.) may notice something different about the World War I (WWI) Obelisk memorial there: scaffolding.
The district has hired a contractor to restore the memorial, which had been showing signs of wear and tear. Restoration started the week of April 16, said Project Planner Brian Morrow.
“The whole obelisk is made out of randomly sized pieces of limestone, and some of those pieces over time have become damaged and separated,” he said. “There are two large bronze plaques on the east and west sides of the memorial. Those are going to be cleaned up and a chemical will be put on them to protect the surface
[s] from corroding. The mortar joints between the pieces of limestone will also be repaired.”
More than 500 names of soldiers from Wheaton who died in WWI are inscribed on the plaques. It was built in 1936, but “nobody seems to know where.”
“It wasn’t built at Northside Park. It was actually built somewhere else and moved there,” said Morrow. “Inside, it’s basically a handmade slab of concrete and the outside is a façade of limestone pieces mortared together. You don’t see many obelisks in the United States, let alone the Midwest, so it’s a unique and interesting piece.”
The restoration is expected to be completed by the end of July.
“The longest part of the restoration process is the time needed to dry the monument out, and that’s what’s caused most of the damage, water infiltration over the years,” Morrow said.
To learn more about Northside Park, visit wheatonparkdistrict.com/parks. Photos of the Obelisk memorial are available in the DuPage County Historical Museum’s (102 E. Wesley St.) archives.
The Wheaton Park District is restoring the Obelisk memorial at Northside Park (1300 N. West St.) honoring more than 500 soldiers from Wheaton who died in World War I. Restoration is expected to be completed by the end of July. Photo © Wheaton Park District 2016. High-resolution photo available on Dropbox.
Written by: Brett Peto