| SMITH MEMORIAL ARCH | |
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CLIENT Fairmount Park Historic Preservation Trust, Inc. LOCATION Philadelphia, Pennsylvania STRUCTURE Located on North Concourse Drive near Memorial Hall, this large stone sculpture was created by a dozen artists as a gateway arch. It flanks Concourse Drive and consists of two rusticated pedestals connected by a Palladian arch on either side of the street. The Smith Memorial Arch (1897-1912) was created to honor Pennsylvania's Civil War military heroes. The arch contains five full statues and nine busts of distinguished Pennsylvania military men. Each interior pedestal is topped with a column serving as a base for a standing bronze figure. Each exterior pedestal supports an equestrian bronze figure.Although not a Civil War hero, one of the statues is of Richard Smith, whose wealth came from making printer type, and who paid to create the work. A unique aspect of the piece are the stone benches at the base of the arch. A person sitting at one end of the bench can turn and whisper into the wall behind him. A second person sitting at the opposite end can clearly hear what is being said… creating the whispering bench. CHALLENGE Settling, alignment, stone displacement, and fracturing were issues occurring due to structural shifts. The charge for S. Harris & Co. was to determine if the large columns and components of the arched sculpture were in structural distress or required stabilization efforts. Inspection of the interior of the columns required descending into a small access way through the adjacent sidewalk and then scaling a narrow ladder within the column itself. SCOPE OF SERVICE
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