Restoration of Luzerne County’s Ellen Webster Palmer statue still underway

Restoration of Luzerne County’s Ellen Webster Palmer statue is underway but will take several more months, county Manager Romilda Crocamo said Monday.

County council unanimously voted last August to use $48,610 in county natural-gas recreation funding to restore the statue so it can be returned to the county courthouse lawn.

Palmer established the Boys’ Industrial Association in Wilkes-Barre in the 1890s to educate and provide social activities for working children. She spent evenings teaching boys after they labored at coal mines during the day.

The 1,200-pound marble statue, which depicts Palmer flanked by a breaker boy and young miner, has significant damage caused by weather, acid rain exposure, vandalism and other factors, officials have said.

It was moved off site around 2007.

Crocamo said she and other county administrators recently visited Baut Studios Inc. in Swoyersville, which is handling the restoration, to check the progress.

To date, the statue has been submerged in a treatment three times to reverse damage from exposure to the elements, she said.

“As a result, the exquisite beauty of the marble has been revealed once again,” she said.

The statue figures also will receive a “much-needed facelift” that will ensure “their enduring presence in our community for years to come,” she said, noting the county is “proud to preserve our rich history and heritage for future generations.”