Historic Monument Revived

by Michael Ward

All new things exist on the foundations laid by those who preceded us. There is no plot of land that has not been touched by someone before us, and we recognize the need to remember our roots. On the site of the Cardinal at West Center, there is a relic of Fayetteville’s history that reminds us of two significant individuals from the turn of the century: William Quesenbury and Daniel Harvey Hill.

In 1929, students of D.H. Hill constructed a small stone monument to hold a heavy bronze plaque honoring Hill and Quesenbury. That small yet significant structure had been standing in the same place on Duncan Ave. since 1929.

When we began demolition of existing structures for the Cardinal at West Center, the monument was still intact but beginning to crumble. It was in need of maintenance or reconstruction. Knowing full well the high intensity environment of a construction site, we decided that we needed to temporarily remove and store the monument during the construction process. Once the Cardinal was complete, we agreed to rebuild the monument.

We maintained the bronze plaque in Modus Studio’s shop, and we stored the original stones in two covered trash cans protected from the elements. Finally, once the Cardinal’s finishing touches had been completed, the landscape contractor rebuilt the monument, with our guidance, using the original stones, and then set the aged bronze plaque into the refurbished stone structure (kudos to B&A Landscape for their great masonry work).