Veterans Memorial Renovation Underway
Under the hot Georgia sun at Robert G. Hunter Memorial Park a small crew of two workers from Air Solutions, Inc. out of Griffin, GA, are busy working on the refurbishment process of the Veterans Memorial. Air Solutions was contracted for the job and was told to “move forward with the refurbishment of the jet”, said Director Parks and Recreation Tracie Ivey.
The two painters, Mark Tatum and Benjie Blounot, had begun the restoration process yesterday with some light sanding and the removal of all the vinyl decals and lettering. This morning the two men were planning out their objectives: finish sanding, patch holes with bondo, pressure wash surface and finish prep.
Both Tatum and Blounot have worked with Delta Airlines painting their aircrafts and now they both renovate military aircraft around the U.S. that include aircraft located at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado and NAS Atlanta at Dobbins Air Reserve Base.
Scaffolding Under F-105D - Right Side
No More Vinyl
Hunter’s Name Removed
It has now become apparent that the F-105D will be repainted in the same color scheme of camouflage instead of silver, which would have resembled 1st Lt. Robert Hunter’s aircraft. Blounot said that the paint currently on the aircraft will serve as the primer and gloss paint would be rolled on the surfaces with transitions in the camouflage pattern to be completed by air brush. Paint is being purchased locally at Porter Paints on Fairburn Road.
Air Solutions will also be taking care of renovating the wrought iron fence that is both below the F-105D and around the perimeter of the Veterans Memorial. The company’s first job was six years ago just after September 11th at NAS Atlanta painting some static display aircraft.
The estimated date of completion is this Friday just in time for Memorial Day. Nine years ago there were pressures from the City of Douglasville and Veteran groups to complete the Veterans Memorial for Memorial Day, which inherently left the aircraft incomplete leaving it to degrade to its current state. Tatum said that the new paint job should have a life of ten years.
This is the first time Air Solutions has ever painted an F-105D. According to Director Tracie Ivey, the City of Douglasville “does not have any plans for Memorial Day” and went on to say that “the city will handle any overrun costs if they arise.”
Losing Georgia wants to display small American Flags at the Veterans Memorial as a sign of appreciation and honor for those who have perished during combat and for those who still serve today in the Armed Services for Memorial Day. A similar display was done nine years ago at the inception of the Veterans Memorial, but has not been replicated since then.
Check out more pictures from today at Losing Georgia’s Flickr photostream.
It’s like everything has come full circle now. Your earliest complaints were that nothing was being done to preserve this monument. Almost two years later… and some things have turned around.
Now, if we complain enough, maybe we can get Alpine back?
May 29th, 2007 at 12:30 pmMaybe if we complain enough, we can get the real Veterans Memorial (Highway) renovated, possibly widened.
May 30th, 2007 at 8:35 am