Bethel Selectmen Vote to Grant $10,300 in Repairs for Historic Doughboy Statue

Bethel, CT — At their June 21, 2016 meeting, the Board of Selectmen voted to grant $10,300 to the Bethel Historical Society for repairs that need to be made on the doughboy statue in P.T. Barnum Square.

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The doughboy soldier statue is called the "Spirit of the American Doughboy" and commemorates American contributions in WWI, according to First Selectman Matthew Knickerbocker, who told Patch:

"About 140 or so of these statues were manufactured in the 1920's by a New York based company and sold to towns around the nation. My understanding is there are not too many left. Ours is beginning to corrode through its copper sheeting and the mortar that holds it to the granite base is coming apart. The firm that built it is still in business. They will send a truck to remove it, recondition it at their foundry, clean the base and reinstall it."

Waymarking.com states that the pressed copper version (copyright 1920) was made by E.M. Viquesney and installed in 1928 in the center of Bethel. The structure stands 7 feet tall and depicts a World War I infantryman holding a grenade in his raised right hand and holding a rifle, horizontally, by his side in his left hand.

The front of the base is inscribed:

"ERECTED BY THE COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION OF BETHEL IN HONOR OF HER WAR VETERANS"

At the bottom of the base, in raise numbers, is the date "1928."

Removal of the statue for restoration will take place on July 19 and it "should be" back up on its pedestal in October, Knickerbocker said. Funding for the project comes from a facilities maintenance account, according to the First Selectman.

"This was brought to my attention by the Bethel Historical Society. They feared it would not last another winter without suffering permanent damage," Knickerbocker stated.

Image by Google Earth

Snowy doughboy photo by Janet Walsh