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Gordon County commission advances restoration plans for arch and damaged memorial statues amid ownership and liability questions
Summary
The Gordon County Historic Preservation Commission discussed plans to restore an arch and three damaged memorial statues, logistical recommendations from a restoration expert and national fundraising outreach from the Doughboy Foundation; members also said they will trace title records to resolve a property-ownership dispute.
The Gordon County Historic Preservation Commission on May 4 discussed plans to restore the Arch memorial and three nearby statues while grappling with liability and land-ownership questions. Commission members said a restoration expert recommended wrapping the statues, using ropes to lift them and transporting them in a box truck, and noted specific damage to the figures.
Members reported that the Doughboy statue is missing a gunstock and strap, the Confederate soldier is missing a gunstock and a finger, and the Native American statue is missing a hand. The Historical Society voted to pursue restoration, but commission members said city and county officials have expressed hesitation about removing the fragile statues for fear they could fall apart during removal. The commission intends to pursue careful handling informed by the expert’s recommendations and to plan logistics with preservation specialists.
Jeff Henderson said he reached out to Theo Mayor, a program manager at the Doughboy Foundation, which previously raised nearly $1 million for World War I memorials. Henderson told the commission that Mayor offered to feature the Gordon County project on his podcast (which Henderson described as reaching about 400,000 people) and to contact national officials to help secure donations; the commission agreed a committee would draft a press release to publicize the effort. Members also said city historic-preservation staff are attempting to nominate the arch for the National Register of Historic Places before its 100th anniversary next year.
Separately, members described an unresolved dispute about who administers the land beneath the arch: online county overlays list either the U.S. government or the State Department of Transportation. The commission plans to trace deeds back to 1900 to determine legal ownership before moving forward with removal or transfer decisions. No formal vote on removal or funding was taken at the meeting.
The commission’s next steps are to continue title research, coordinate restoration logistics with the hired expert and historical-society partners, draft public outreach materials and pursue National Register nomination efforts.
