Luzerne County seeks bids for possible restoration of Ellen Webster Palmer statue

Luzerne County is seeking bids to restore the Ellen Webster Palmer statue that once graced the county courthouse lawn.

Moved off site around 2007, the 1,200-pound marble statue has fissures, and the heads of Palmer and the two boys flanking her had been knocked off by vandals and later reattached. Palmer’s nose also is missing.

Restoration had been estimated at $38,000 in 2014.

Palmer established the Boys’ Industrial Association in Wilkes-Barre in the 1890s to educate and provide social activities for working children, spending her nights teaching breaker boys after they labored at coal mines during the day.

County Operational Services Division Head Gregory Kurtz said Wednesday bids are needed because the engineering department is considering a proposal to use Act 13 natural-gas recreation funding for the restoration.

Based on past practice, county council’s Act 13 Committee ultimately discusses and make recommendations to council on how this money is spent.

According to the bid, which is posted under the purchasing department section at luzernecounty.org, the project will be completed under one prime contract.

Bids are due Aug. 31.

County officials transported the statue to a private studio for safekeeping around 2007 during a revamping of the River Common, with the idea of repairing, restoring and returning it to a more elevated spot closer to River Street. However, the statue plan was shelved amid competition with other projects seeking limited capital funding.

An inscription at the bottom of the statue reads: “Life is a tool to work with, not a toy to play with.”