Our conservation of the Lehman Gates included applying a new coating to its bronze sculpture, cleaning its stone piers, and re-gilding the letting on the piers.
The Lehman Gates greet visitors to the Tisch Children’s Zoo in the southeast corner of Central Park. The whimsical sculpture atop the Lehman Gates was designed by Paul Manship, the acclaimed American sculptor who is best known for Prometheus at Rockefeller Center.
The Conservancy removed the existing coating and applied a new protective coating to the sculpture. It protects the bronze from corrosion and other types of deterioration caused by exposure to the elements. In addition to recoating, we made repairs to the bronze, cleaned the stone piers, and re-gilded the lettering on the piers.
Since 2012, we have been working to recoat all bronze monuments in the Park. Most of the Park’s bronze sculptures were last coated in the 1980s and 1990s with lacquer-based coating. Now, having reached their lifespan, the coatings are being replaced.
This project is generously funded by
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