Workers use a crane to set up scaffolding around the statue atop the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in downtown Indianapolis in April 2011.
Daily Journal Archives
News from around Johnson County as reported on May 9 in the pages of the Daily Journal and the Franklin Evening Star from the last 112 years.
On this day in 2011, two pages of the Daily Journal were dedicated to renovations to the Soldiers and Sailors Monuments in Downtown Indianapolis — and how a Center Grove area resident’s company helped.
“Pete Egenolf stood on a scaffold nearly 300 feet above Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis,” the story began.
“Wind gusts, sometimes topping 30 mph, ripped at him as he worked. But he ignored them as he focused on securing an iron frame to the ‘Lady Victory’ statue at the top of the monument.’”
The 10-ton sculpture was coming down for repairs and refinishing, and Egenolf’s job was to ensure it made it off safely. He and his company, Egenolf Contracting and Rigging, were responsible for moving the statue from the top of Indianapolis’ downtown monument.
The business built the frames that went around the bronze sculpture. Their workers bolted the frame to the statue’s base and secured it as a crane lifted the statue off its pedestal and lowered it to the ground.
Egenolf and his company had been involved with similar projects throughout the area. They helped install artwork at the Central Library in Indianapolis, as well as lifted a 34-foot totem pole inside the Eiteljorg Museum.
But this was the most visible project they’d been involved in, said Joe Egenolf, Pete’s father and the former owner of the company, now retired.
“Doing things like that are always fun. This was right downtown, in the middle of everything. It was kind of a big deal,” he said.
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Other memorable Johnson County stories from this day
2014
A teen was shot in the leg during a drug deal in Bargersville.
2005
A Nineveh woman incarcerated at the Johnson County jail died after falling from her bunk bed.
1994
Arvin North American Automotive announced plans to downsize its Greenwood plant.
