Anniston City Council wants to restore Doughboy statue | News

The City of Anniston has taken a first step toward restoring an iconic statue on its main street.

A copy of E. M. Viquesney's famous sculpture, "The Spirit of the American Doughboy," sits on the median of Quintard Avenue between 12th and 13th Streets.  It depicts a World War I soldier holding up a grenade and carrying a rifle.  It was put in place Memorial Day, 1922.

But over the years the doughboy has been fighting another war: the one against the ravages of time.  The copper statue has turned green and its pedestal is falling apart.

This week the Anniston City Council voted to request that city manager Don Hoyt look into what would be needed to repair and restore the statue.

The doughboy statue was put in place by the Anniston Chapter of the Gold Star Mothers group.  A website says the American Legion raised money by putting on a minstrel show at the Lyric Theater, which in those days was a vaudeville house.