Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.metro From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Statue superclean, thanks to taxpayers Date: Fri, 30 Oct 92 15:33:28 EST Message-ID: \SE B;METROPOLITAN \HD Statue superclean, thanks to taxpayers \BY Todd Smith \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES A team of workers that has spent three weeks cleaning a little-known statue in the District has observers wondering if the federal government is spending too much time to do too little. For the past three weeks, two National Park Service workers assigned to the statue preservation team have washed, waxed, steam-cleaned, polished and brushed a statue of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow at Connecticut Avenue and M Street NW. Some who lunch and relax in Logan Park have noticed the ongoing effort and think it is a monumental waste of time and taxpayer money. One office worker first noticed the cleaners after they spent eight hours hosing down the statue on a Friday in mid-October. He says they have been back for varying lengths of time every workday since then, including Wednesday, when he watched them spend another eight hours steam-cleaning the sidewalk around the statue. "They have washed this thing down to the bone," said the observer, who did not want to be identified. "How much is this costing us? "They have been constantly washing the sidewalk for hours," the office worker said. "They are wasting time and water and money. This is costing the taxpayers bucks." Earle Kittleman, a park service spokesman, was unfamiliar with the wash job being done on Longfellow but said it takes anywhere from a week on smaller statues to a month on larger ones. "Statue preservation goes on as funds and time are available," he said. "I don't know why the Longfellow statue is taking longer." Jim Mauldin and co-worker Timothy Bond have been inspecting and cleaning the statue since Oct. 15. "We checked the statue for cracks, the structure of the marble and then we had to clean and wax it, Mr. Mauldin said. Mr. Mauldin told a reporter Oct. 22 that they were putting the finishing touches on the statue, which is one of the smallest of the 110 in the city - but they are still on the job. A bright-orange cherry picker was still on the site Wednesday as the workers re-steamed, rewashed, re-waxed and re-buffed the statue. While Longfellow is getting the bath of his life, the Rev. John Witherspoon, the only minister to sign the Declaration of Independence, stands in his flowing gowns a block away covered with pigeon droppings, corrosion and dirt. Mr. Mauldin said a much bigger statue of Gen. Winfield Scott at Scott Circle only took them about 2 1/2 weeks to clean. "Sometimes we have to go by the weather, but we have had to put three coats of wax - two hot coats and one cold coat [on Longfellow] before we buffed the whole thing," Mr. Mauldin said. The bronze statue of the man who wrote "Paul Revere's Ride" was presented to the District by the Longfellow Memorial Association after a 1906 act of Congress. Despite the accusations of government waste, some park patrons like Longfellow's new look. "It needed the cleaning with all the bird droppings," said Steven Smith, 21, a George Washington University student who hangs out in the park. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM