Doughboy Monument in Astoria gets a facelift

Loading

When a large pickup truck plowed into the Doughboy Monument last summer, it wasn’t the first time the World War I memorial on Marine Drive had tangled with a vehicle, but it was among the worst accidents emergency responders had seen at the Uniontown landmark.

Portions of the city-owned monument were left broken and scarred. The crash snapped light poles, damaged planter boxes and cracked the concrete on curving walls.

The accident also temporarily derailed plans that were already in motion at the time to restore features of the monument.

The Astoria Parks and Recreation Department, which manages the site, reported earlier this spring that the city is still on track to have repair work — covered by insurance — and the bulk of the restoration — funded by a variety of grants — completed in time for the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I on Nov. 11.

On Saturday, students with Clatsop Community College’s historic preservation and restoration program circled the memorial with clipboards in hand, assessing what needs to be done. Lucien Swerdloff, the program’s coordinator, and others are leading workshops at the site. It has turned the memorial into a very unique kind of classroom. “It is kind of ideal because it’s small. It’s manageable, but there’s a lot of things going on with it,” Swerdloff said.

“A lot of the time when we do the workshops we have it all figured out and we just come and kind of do it,” he added. “So the students don’t get

Visits: 35

Want more information on benefits and programs related to , ?

More Stories