Saratoga Park War Memorial Statue Restored!

The war memorial in Saratoga Park has been restored! A reader tipped us off the finish line might be in sight. “Big news!!!” he emailed. “The Victory and Peace statue is resting on the pedestal again behind the chain-link fence!!!” When we stopped by recently, we could see the pedestal and the honor rolls of World War I dead on each side through the green fence, but the statue wasn’t there yet. 

Our reader snapped the photo above of the restored memorial last week. The statue has since been covered with a blue tarp, he said.

The honor rolls of World War I dead were stolen in 1970, and the statue itself was stolen in 2000 and sold in pieces to local scrap yards. (You can read all about it on the Parks Department website.) The Brownstone Detectives also posted about it. The park was built in 1896 and occupies a block between Halsey, Macon, Saratoga and Ralph Howard in Bed Stuy.

The green fence and a sign about the restoration went up in June. The restoration is supposed to wrap this summer, according to the sign, which gives the city officially less than three weeks. We are looking forward to hearing about an unveiling soon! Anyone know more?

Below, the pedestal as it appeared in late May as the construction fence was going up. Thanks to a reader for the below photo.