World War I obelisk being restored

For the next few months, anyone who walks, runs, bikes, or drives past the entrance of Wheaton's Northside Park may notice something different about the World War I Obelisk memorial there: scaffolding.

Wheaton Park District has hired a contractor to restore the memorial at 1300 N. West St., which had been showing signs of wear and tear, project planner Brian Morrow said.

"The whole obelisk is made out of randomly sized pieces of limestone, and some of those pieces over time have become damaged and separated," he said.

"There are two large bronze plaques on the east and west sides of the memorial. Those are going to be cleaned up and a chemical will be put on them to protect the surfaces from corroding. The mortar joints between the pieces of limestone will also be repaired."

More than 500 names of soldiers from Wheaton who served in World War I are inscribed on the plaques. It was built in 1936, Morrow said, but "nobody seems to know where."

"It wasn't built at Northside Park. It was actually built somewhere else and moved there," he said. "Inside, it's basically a handmade slab of concrete and the outside is a facade of limestone pieces mortared together. You don't see many obelisks in the United States, let alone the Midwest, so it's a unique and interesting piece."

The restoration is expected to be completed by the end of July.

"The longest part of the restoration process is the time needed to dry the monument out, and that's what's caused most of the damage, water infiltration over the years," Morrow said.

To learn more about Northside Park, visit wheatonparkdistrict.com/parks. Photos of the Obelisk memorial are available in the DuPage County Historical Museum's archives at 102 E. Wesley St., Wheaton.