Bronze From Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial Removed For Restoration

BOSTON (CBS) – Crews renovating the Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial in Boston lifted the bronze sculpture off its base on Monday. The piece of art on the Boston Common is considered to be one of the ten monuments that changed America.

The sculpture honors Col. Robert Gould Shaw and a group of black soldiers who left Massachusetts to fight in the Civil War.

Work on the monument started in 2015 when inspectors realized the foundation wasn't as sturdy as it should be. Over the past few months, crews have been removing the stone base and on Monday, they lifted the bronze relief.

"What's amazing is that the National Park Service rated this project one of the top preservation priorities in the nation in all of their sites which is incredible when you think about it the sites that the National Park Service is stewarding in our country," said Elizabeth Vizza, President of the Friends of the Public Garden. "This is one of the top preservation priorities."

The sculpture will be moved to a conservation studio to be restored. The $3 million renovation project is expected to be finished by November.