University Of Baltimore's Poe Statue Receives Makeover

BALTIMORE (AP) -- The University of Baltimore's Edgar Allan Poe statue is receiving a makeover.

The Baltimore Sun reports Urban Renaissance Restoration owner Kenya Brown has been restoring the bronze statue since Jan. 4 using special tools, including a blowtorch, to treat the statue.

The 41-year-old Baltimore native has experience in restoring historical ceramics and paintings in places such as Italy and the District of Columbia.

She contacted the university and wrote a proposal in November after stumbling upon the statue, knowing it needed work.

Brown says statues are often treated every five to 10 years, but Poe's last restoration remains unknown.

University spokesman Chris Hart says Brown is transforming a fixture of the school.

Commissioned in 1911, the statue was constructed in 1921 in Wyman Park but relocated to the university in 1983.

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