5-year project to recreate 'The Defiant One' enters final stages

LACONIA — Proving true to its name, the spirit of “The Defiant One” persists despite the decay that destroyed its original form. A series of complications have confounded those who took it upon themselves to restore it to its station at Opechee Park. The 36-foot replacement statue is nearing completion and could be standing proudly again as early as this fall. 

The sculpture, which featured the face and headdress of an Indigenous American man, was carved out of wood by Hungarian-American artist Peter Wolf Toth in 1984, as part of a series in which he created similar pieces of art for each of the country’s 50 states.

From 1984 until 2019, the sculpture stood inside Opechee Park’s running track, atop a 4-foot concrete pedestal and backed by an arc of shrubs. It was positioned in a way that it appeared to watch over traffic that passed along North Main Street. However, despite several reapplications of stain, the sands of time eroded the artwork, forcing the city to take it down before it fell on its own accord.

Before it came down, though, a group of businesspeople with ties to the area came to the city with a plan. Their proposal was to complete a thorough scan of the wooden carving, then use 3D printing to reproduce it, and they would do it all on their own dimes.

File this under the category of “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished,” as the project took several times longer, and multiple times over, its original budget. However, according to Mike Smith, one of those behind the effort, the end is finally in sight.

“We are in a very good spot right now,” said Smith, “I spoke to the head builder in charge of the team that’s doing all the work in Laconia now. Within a month we could have this thing up and standing in Opechee Park.”

When Smith — as well as Scott Everett and Peter Erklauer, his partners in the project — took on the restoration, they expected it to be a fairly straightforward solution that would cost about $10,000. At the time, the three had just taken over as owners of the Winnipesaukee Muskrats, a member of the New England Collegiate Baseball League, and this project seemed like a good opportunity for them to show the depths of their roots to the area. Both Smith and Everett grew up locally.

The project turned out to be so long it has outlived their careers as baseball team owners — the Muskrats played their last game in Laconia in 2022.

The delay has prompted questions from the public. Amy Lovisek, director of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, has fielded several over the past few years, she said.

“They wondered if it got lost or if it was still happening,” Lovisek said. “The good news is that it is still happening. It’s coming sooner rather than later, which is a good thing.”

Based on the manner of questions about the statue’s status, Lovisek said there’s a discernible sentiment surrounding the sculpture.

“It’s clear they want it back. They were happy to know that it wasn’t just getting taken down, it was getting replaced,” Lovisek said. There has been some frustration about the speed of the project’s process, but, “I think they will be thrilled when it comes back.”

Smith will likely also be thrilled, as he shares in the frustration.

“Anything that could go wrong or be complicating in the process has happened,” Smith said.

For starters, the project had barely gotten started when the COVID pandemic hit. The Texas-based company that had agreed to print, assemble and ship the new sculpture to Laconia was unable to fulfill its promise, and instead told Smith the best they could do was send up the printed materials, in pieces.

Fortunately, Everett is a developer of real estate in Laconia, with a phone full of contractors who are used to making strange requests take shape. “The Defiant One” is just the latest on their to-do list.

“I just went to them and dumped a pile of Legos on their desk and said, 'Build me a statue,'” Smith said, “And they’ve been doing it.”

Putting the sculpture back together isn’t as easy as a Lego set, though. The pieces need to be adhered to one another with some kind of sealant that won’t be problematic when it comes to painting. There are ridges and seams where the pieces meet, which will need to be smoothed out. The actual material, as delivered, is thinner in places than it should be, so they have had to find a way to strengthen it without deviating from the original design.

Then there’s the weight. The printed version, at 7,000 pounds, is a small fraction of the weight of the original, which was solid wood.

“That weight helped to keep that thing in place,” Smith said. “The new one is much lighter, the wind could blow it over,” so they’ve had to devise a new way to mount and anchor the sculpture. The prior pedestal will be removed and a new concrete pad will be poured.

Without the pedestal, the new one will appear slightly shorter, though that’s just because it will be placed at ground level. It also won’t be exactly the same shade as recent memory recalls — that’s because the color of the wooden edition gradually darkened over the years as successive coats of stain were applied.

Smith said his team chose to split the difference between the light shade of the original and the dark brown of the later years.

“For five years we haven’t stopped. It’s never been put on the back burner,” Smith said. He said it was interesting “The Defiant One” was brought to Laconia by a gifted artist who was based at the time in Ohio, and is being brought back by the skills of local craftspeople.

“This is an iconic symbol of the Lakes Region, and we’re getting talent from the region to bring it back,” he said.

Smith said he expects the final cost of the project to be around $80,000, eight times greater than the original estimate.

“It’s significantly more money, but we’re committed to getting this done,” Smith said. “We made that commitment a long time ago and we’re going to honor that commitment.”

The entirety of the financial burden has been borne by the group of businesspeople. Lovisek said there were several donations made to the city by members of the public, monies which they hoped to use for restoration of the original structure, and those donations will be given to Smith and his associates once the sculpture is standing in place again. She also said the city will likely hold some sort of ceremony to honor the effort and to celebrate the return of “The Defiant One.”

“I very much look forward to seeing it come to fruition,” said Lovisek. “I love the fact that this was Mike Smith thinking outside the box, using his creative mind to ask, ‘How can we fix this?’ And he’s accomplished it. I give him kudos.”

A piece of city history

Kirk Beattie, city manager, said he has started to sense “a lot of positive hope” that the sculpture’s five-year absence will soon end.

“The people I’ve talked to, they see it as part of our history,” Beattie said. “I think it’s been something that the residents of Laconia have been used to seeing for decades, for a lot of people they miss seeing it.

"The value of it is this piece of Laconia history that they would love to see back in place.”