Community Revitalization Award – Mahoning County Courthouse Statues, Youngstown
The sheet copper sculpture crowning the Mahoning County Courthouse is one of the largest stamped copper sheet metal fabrications of this type. It was designed by Chicago artist Carl Bell and Leon Hermant in 1909. The three hollow statues from the top of the Mahoning County Courthouse were removed from the roof in October 2010 after the base collapsed and the statue became discolored. The statues are named “Justice” on the left, “Strength and Authority” in the center and “Law” on the right. As part of a multi-million-dollar courthouse preservation effort the statues were taken out of storage and restored at the McKay Lodge Fine Arts Conservatory Laboratory Inc. in Oberlin. The $70,000 statue restoration included realignment of all bent pieces, re-soldering of all copper joints, application of a chemical patina and installation of a new stainless-steel interior armature and anchoring system. Project designer was Elizabeth Murphy, of Chambers, Murphy and Burge. The project was nominated by Paul Ricciuti.
