State to spend $600K repairing monument

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana War Memorials Commission will spend $600,000 to repair the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in downtown Indianapolis beginning later this month.

The commission’s director, Brig. Gen. J. Stewart Goodwin, said the project to rebuild a leaky observation deck and shore up the monument’s interior is scheduled to start Aug. 21 and finish by Sept. 25.

Goodwin said workers also will install anchors designed to help hang holiday lights that make the monument a tourist draw during the Christmas season.

Goodwin said the repairs will cost as much as the monument’s original construction costs.