Brucemore marks key step in 2020 derecho recovery with restoration of gates, statues

CEDAR RAPIDS — More than two years after the 2020 derecho destroyed much of the Brucemore historic estate, the attraction’s gates and two statues have been restored — marking a key step in the nonprofit’s recovery from the devastating storm.

The wrought iron gates at Linden Drive SE and First Avenue SE and the “Dancing Children” and deer statues were sent away over a year ago to be restored in Minneapolis and have finally returned to Brucemore’s grounds.

“Putting them back in place after two years has really been symbolically gratifying,“ said Brucemore Chief Executive Officer David Janssen of the gates, which he described as “iconic front and back doors to our estate.”

He recalled seeing the gates mangled on the ground, one knocked off by a falling tree and both sustaining structural damage. They had to be dragged out of the way for vehicles to enter and begin recovery work. Janssen said it was one of the scenes that haunts the Brucemore staff from that day.

“To see them back up was very emotional for all of us,” Janssen said.

Gates like ‘brand-new’

Jessica Peel-Austin, curator of museum collections, said the gates are historic to the Douglas era and were installed around 1928. They had some rust and other damage before the derecho and already were in need of conservation, she said.

Peel-Austin said Brucemore, soon after the storm, started the process of getting insurance quotes and conservators came to look at what care was needed to restore the damaged gates and statuary.

She recalls standing in the cold amid tons of snow in December 2020 while conservators did a Zoom evaluation of the gates and statuary before Christmas.

“I just remember spending the day outside with one of my colleagues at the time holding the phone up to different parts of the gate and different statuary so the conservators could evaluate them,” Peel-Austin said.

The gates were uninstalled November 2021 so the conservation process could begin. Some structural changes were needed to repair the gates, such as removing the bottom bar of the gate to accommodate regraded concrete and replacing a structural beam.

“It’s been a very long process but the gates are in great shape now, they look beautiful — just like they were brand-new in 1928,” Peel-Austin said. “It’s been a really gratifying and really nice thing to see in putting it back.”

Statues fixed

One statue that was restored was Brucemore’s pond deer, which is a cast iron deer statue that stands in between the urns on the south side of the pond. It sustained mostly surface level damage as it was scratched by tree branches and debris falling on it.

Peel-Austin said that statue needed to be refinished, its paint layer stripped and replaced and then it also needed its pitting and deeper scratches in the middle repaired.

The other, more damaged sculpture was a 1916 piece called “Dancing Children.” Peel-Austin said a tree branch damaged the statue’s wide, flat top where the Douglas family would set items such as sundials or flowerpots and dented the statue.

Peel-Austin said that restoration process was more invasive, as the top bronze layer was removed so the dent could be fixed.

Overall recovery

Janssen said Brucemore sustained damage to all seven historic buildings in the storm. He said significant pieces yet to be fixed include the mansion roof, slate roof and some copper gutters. They are slated to be repaired in 2023.

Brucemore has finished the first phase of a three- to four-year landscape restoration project that aims to bring the cultural landscape back, he said. Part of that involved repopulating the timber area by the pond. Phase two scheduled for next year includes work on the garden, ponds and garden house wall.

“There really isn’t any cultural landscape quite like Brucemore in the Midwest,” he said.

Janssen expects work to carry into 2024 on the landscape, possibly into 2025 depending on the availability of contractors and funding.

“I’m grateful that the community has supported us and been patient as we have worked to preserve this asset on their behalf,” he said.

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