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Not such a tough guy after all Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Dennis DeBey of Ashland Forge uses a hammer and chisel to check the condition of Iron Mike, who usually keeps watch over the Ashland Plaza. The statue's arm was broken off on Halloween. DeBey will do the repair and a general overhaul. Ashland's 'Iron Mike' will get some repairs after a Halloween prank resulted in loss of the statue's arm By JOHN DARLING for the Mail Tribune ASHLAND - He's not as strong as he sounds. "Iron Mike," the 92-year old metal statue adorning Ashland's plaza, had to be hauled off Wednesday for $8,500 worth of repairs after a Halloween reveler ripped off his arm and musket. He might better be called "pot-metal-and-fiberglass Mike," but whatever his name, he couldn't take the antics of Damion C. Bianchi, 22, Medford, who was charged with criminal mischief, disorderly conduct and prohibited use of a monument after being videotaped climbing on the 5-foot-tall statue Oct. 31. He will appear in Ashland Municipal Court on June 13. Iron Mike depicts a pioneer cradling a flintlock rifle and shading his eye as he searches for game. It was conceived by the pioneer Breyman family of Salem and cast by the Mott Ironworks of New York. It honors 1884 immigrants Henry and Harriet Carter, who came here from Iowa and founded the Bank of Ashland. Henry Carter also created Siskiyou Boulevard from his properties and was a prime mover in fruit, electricity and land enterprises. Iron Mike was cast of pot metal, a blend of cheap, malleable zinc, tin and lead, said Ashland blacksmith Dennis DeBey, who will do the restoration with welding equipment. The statue will first be sandblasted, then South Valley Auto Body will paint it - either its present gray or its original brown. The statue stands 15 feet on a tall pedestal atop the four-sided Carter Memorial Fountain, designed for use of "man or beast" (horses could drink from it), noted a 1909 issue of the Ashland Daily Tidings. The statue has not had an easy career. Weakened by the decades, it "precipitously fell from its pedestal and crashed to the pavement," said news reports in May 1969. Both feet and the left arm broke off and were restored with fiberglass. DeBey did a further refurbishing in 1982. He may fill the statue with fiberglass resin this time to make future breaks unlikely, he said. The statue was unbolted and lifted off its pedestal Wednesday by the city's electric department. Repairs will cost $6,500, said assistant city engineer Karl Johnson, with an additional $2,000 if original plumbing for the water fountains is replaced - a decision not yet made. It will be back in place in early June. The city attorney's office has been holding the arm and musket as evidence - and to allow Bianchi to photograph it for use in his defense. He has pleaded not guilty and will act as his own attorney, according to City Attorney Paul Nolte's office. The arrest report said Bianchi was "jumping all over various parts" of Iron Mike and showing "violent behavior, enticing the crowd into almost riotous condition." The report said he was intoxicated and, as verified by a videotape, broke the statue's arm off when he fell to the ground. John Darling is a free-lance writer living in Ashland. E-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.