The statue was “part of the late 19th- and 20th-century downtown landscape,” said Brady Kress, president and chief executive of Dayton History, the nonprofit organization that operates Carillon Park.
“From an artifact standpoint, she is one of those silent witnesses of a tremendous amount of growth in the Miami Valley and in Dayton,” Kress said.
The statue, a female figure also known as the Goddess of Liberty, originally crowned the Gebhart Opera House, which was built in 1877 and later renamed the Mayfair Theater. The Mayfair was located at 22 E. Fifth St. where the Dayton Convention Center now stands. It became a burlesque theater before being torn down in 1969.
Lady Mayfair was purchased by former Dayton Mayor Dave Hall and given to the Dayton Art Institute, according to the Smithsonian Institution Research Information System.
The 11-foot-tall, 500-pound statue stood outdoors at DAI until 2001 when it was put into storage, Kress said. The artifact was transferred to Dayton History in June and stabilized before installation.
Additional repairs might include replacing the statue’s missing arms, one of which held a sword. “At some future date we would enjoy sending her through a full restoration, but right now we’ve just stopped the bleeding,” Kress said.
The $8 million heritage center opened in August at Carillon Park.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2419 or dlarsen@DaytonDailyNews .com.
About the Author