Location

New York, NY

Services

Conditions Assessment

Conservation Treatments

Construction Monitoring

Field & Lab Testing

Materials

Stone

This monument honors engineer John Wolfe Ambrose (1838-1899) whose vision and persistence resulted in the deep-sea channel to New York Harbor, which improved the viability of the Port of New York, making New York City the heart of commerce in the US. Originally located on a wall at the New York Aquarium in Castle Clinton, the Ambrose Monument had been relocated to a wall in the concession stand at Battery Park.  As part of the park’s restoration, the Ambrose Monument was removed from the wall, restored, re-gilded, and relocated to a new location within the park.

JBC, working as a sub-contractor to Judlau Contracting, Inc., assisted with the removal, relocation and conservation of the monument. The scope of work included a conditions assessment as well as mortar analyses and preparation of replication mixes. JBC oversaw the relocation and reinstallation, and performed repairs of the monument, including cleaning and removal of the hard setting cement that covered the back of the monument when it was mounted to a wall, as well as gilding the monument’s lettering, patching losses, and pointing the finished work. A replica of the original bronze Ambrose bust, done by others, completed the restoration.