Effort underway to restore 99-year-old WWI memorial outside Pittsburgh's Obama Academy

Local leaders are raising money to restore a World War I memorial outside Obama Academy in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood.

The memorial features a more than 6-foot-tall bronze sculpture by Pittsburgh sculptor Frank Vittor. It depicts several figures, including a statue of Columbia, a mother and son, a returned soldier about to be crowned with laurels, the allegorical figure of Victory clutching a wreath and a depiction of Immortality, according to Preservation Pittsburgh, a local nonprofit that is raising money for the memorial’s restoration.

The figures stand over a base that bears the names of the 500 Peabody High School students who served in World War I. Fifteen were killed in action, according to Preservation Pittsburgh. The school was Peabody before it became Obama Academy.

The memorial was dedicated on May 30, 1924, according to James Hill, a member of Pittsburgh’s Historic Review Commission. As the memorial nears its 100th anniversary, Hill is leading the charge to restore it.

“The statue’s been falling into disrepair since the ’60s,” he said.

The base originally held a flagpole, which has since been removed, and the bronze needs a full restoration, he said. The Victory figure is missing a hand and a wreath it once held.

In conjunction with Preservation Pittsburgh and the Military Community Support Project, Hill is looking to raise $100,000 for a project that would restore the statue’s bronze, repair the missing portion of the Victory figure, install a new flagpole and renovate the surrounding area to make it more welcoming to students and the community.

“Done right, I think it could provide a nice area for Obama Academy students,” Hill said. “It’s really beautiful.”

Hill estimated the statue would need to be off-site for restoration work for three to four weeks.

“It’s such an underserved historic resource,” said Matthew Falcone, who serves as president of Preservation Pittsburgh and as a member of the city’s Historic Review Commission.

Preservation Pittsburgh said the memorial is the most significant war memorial at a Pittsburgh Public Schools building. Students of the former Peabody High raised funds and liberty bonds to build the statue to commemorate the students who had served in World War I.

Falcone said the piece’s placement at a school provides a unique opportunity for students to interact with the memorial.

“For kids who are trying to figure out what they’re trying to do with their lives and learning about art and learning about history, it seems like such a unique opportunity,” he said.

Robert Creo, a 1970 Peabody graduate, previously teamed up with the Military Community Support Project to try to raise the funds for restoration work ahead of his class’s 50th reunion in 2020. He estimated they raised about $3,000 to $4,000 for the initiative at that time, and he said that money will be used to support the restoration efforts now underway.

“I just thought it was appalling how that memorial had just deteriorated,” Creo said, adding he was glad to see other organizations pool their resources to bring the restoration to fruition.

Preservation Pittsburgh is launching its fundraising effort in conjunction with the Fourth of July holiday. The nonprofit is accepting donations through its website.