Statues in Muskegon’s Hackley Park getting restoration, preservation work

Statues and monuments in downtown Muskegon’s Hackley Park that date back more than a century will be cleaned, repaired and preserved in spring 2024 at a cost of more than $100,000. In this file photo from 2010, the Abraham Lincoln statue at Hackley Park is cleaned as part of a restoration effort. (MLive file photo)

MUSKEGON, MI – Seven statues and monuments in downtown Muskegon that date back more than a century will be cleaned, repaired and preserved next year at a cost of more than $100,000.

The city received a $55,000 grant from the State Historic Preservation Office to help pay for the restoration of five bronze and granite sculptures at Hackley Park. Two other historical statues also will be part of the preservation effort.

The Hackley Park sculptures include one located at each of its corners as well as a towering Civil War monument in its center.

The Muskegon City Commission on Tuesday, Aug. 22, agreed to accept the grant and to pay a required $22,440 match. The total cost of the project is estimated at $105,000 with the city kicking in $50,000, according to information provided to commissioners.

Commissioner Michael Ramsey said it’s important for the city to preserve its rich history for those “who come after us.”

“All of these beautiful parts of our city are so important to preserve because we have so much pride in what and how and when and where we came from and where we’re going to go,” Ramsey said.

The work will begin in spring 2024, Muskegon Public Works Director Dan VanderHeide told commissioners.

Work will include washing the monuments, performing structural repairs, treating oxidized areas, adding a corrosion inhibitor, removing and replacing wax and cleaning granite bases. In addition, staff will be trained on how to properly clean and wax the monuments on a “scheduled and routine basis,” according to the grant agreement.

Muskegon businessman and philanthropist Charles Hackley donated the park and monuments to the city, and the four statues located at the park corners were unveiled on Memorial Day in 1900.

Statues at the park include:

-The Civil War “Soldiers and Sailors Monument.” The 80-foot monument created by Joseph Carabelli includes a sculpture of the female figure of Victory at the top of a large column and four 7-foot sculptures on the lower portion depicting an artilleryman, an infantryman, a calvaryman and a sailor.

-President Abraham Lincoln. The bronze and granite sculpture by Henry Neihaus depicts a seated Lincoln and is located at the corner of Webster Avenue and Third Street.

-President Ulysses S. Grant. The bronze and granite sculpture of the country’s 18th president was created by J. Massey Rhind. It is located at the corner of Webster and Fourth Street.

-General William Tecumseh Sherman. Created by Rhind, the sculpture is located at the corner of Clay Avenue and Third Street. Sherman was a general for the Union Army during the Civil War and later was named commanding general of the U.S. Army.

-Admiral David Farragut. Created by Niehaus, the sculpture is located at the corner of Clay and Fourth Street. Farragut, a southern Unionist, was a rear admiral for the U.S. Navy during the Civil War.

Two other sculptures located outside the park also will receive restoration work.

-President William McKinley. This bronze and granite statue was the first to honor the assassinated president when it was erected in 1902 across from Hackley Park. It was created by Niehaus and Carabelli. The statue is now on the grounds of the privately-owned Hackley Square building, which previously housed the Hackley Administration Building for Muskegon Public Schools. The property owner, Reset Ventures, will pay for the statue’s restoration.

-General Philip Kearny. The bronze and granite statue created in 1901 by Henry Kirke Brown honors the Civil War major general who was killed in battle in 1862. Because the statue is located outside the city’s historic district in The Kearny Memorial Park, a pocket park at the corner of Terrace and Peck streets, the city will pay the full costs of its restoration.

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