After citizens voiced concerns about the tarnished state of two plaques honoring Civil War and World War I veterans in the Richmond County Court House, a Charlotte company has restored them to their original glory.

Community Services Director B.K. Jones said the county hired Complete Stone and Tile, Inc. out of Charlotte because the price was right and they were willing to restore the plaques in place.

Jones said other companies wanted the plaques taken down and moved to the businesses location, and they easily weigh 1,000 pounds each.

Jones said the Charlotte company came in the weekend of Oct. 17-18 when the courthouse was unoccupied, because of the fumes involved in the cleaning process, and the plaques were cleaned and a thin coat of sealant was applied to slow the tarnishing process.

“They did a great job on them,” Jones said.

Jones said the plaques are bronze so they will tarnish over the years, but he hopes this cleaning will last at least eight or 10 years.

“We’ll probably have to clean them every eight or 10 years to keep them looking this good,” Jones said. “They’re really sharp.”

Jones said the cleaning cost $3,580 for both plaques.

He said the plaques have been in the courthouse for at least 50 years but he doesn’t know if they’ve ever been cleaned before.

Jones said a couple attempts were made to clean the plaques in-house, but were never successful.

n Staff writer Eren Tataragasi can be reached at (910) 997-3111 or at etataragasi@yourdailyjournal.com.