Calvary Veterans Park, Calvary Cemetery

This is one of my favorite Queens cemetery finds: The Calvary Veterans Memorial at Calvary Cemetery, Queens; by Daniel Draddy and Maurice J. Power.

I hope that this photo set represents the "before" in a before and after sequence in which the "after" pictures show these impressive sculptures restored to some level of their original honor.

According to Donald Martin Reynolds (Monuments and Masterpieces, Histories and Views of Public Sculpture in New York City), the four corners of this park were once decorated with bronze eagles. Additionaly, four cannons once marked the corners of the monument itself, but nothing of those cannons remains. It is further obvious that numerous elements once present on the obelisk are missing.

I have read of the existence of designs and illustrations showing these eagles and cannons. If you know where these designs can be found I would love to hear about it and share those designs here, for the purpose of showing what this monument is supposed to look like.

A movement is afoot to restore this monument, with a New York City Parks budget of $500,000 for this project allocated in an as-yet-unapproved budget. Vandals and time have taken their toll on this work, but I and others would love to see these life-size sculptures restored. Some have suggested that this monument be moved to a more visible location in Queens, perhaps at an intersection or even simply near the front gate of the cemetery. I don't know if I agree with that, since this monument is not purely decorative. It marks the burial spot of 21 New York soldiers who served in the Civil War.