Replica horse trough takes the Glen Ellyn original's place downtown
A reproduction has taken over a Glen Ellyn landmark's place of importance downtown.
After craftsmen spent more than a year on the meticulous replica, the village's new horse trough now stands as a centerpiece in the intersection of Crescent Boulevard and Main Street.
Public works crews installed the ornate monument on a pedestal early Wednesday morning, a more reserved homecoming than the official unveiling that would have greeted it in a pre-pandemic world.
Appearing on postcards, the horse trough is as much a symbol of Glen Ellyn's heritage as the Civic Center clock tower. The village received the original from businessman William Newton when he donated the trough in 1907 with the instructions that its bowls would quench the thirst of horses and dogs.
To make the replica, Public Works Director Julius Hansen last spring personally delivered the historic trough to a foundry in an Iowa town, where, coincidentally, horses are still prominently used as a mode of transportation.
"It's a small shop in Iowa," Hansen said. "They don't mass-produce things. It's all made by hand, and it's all hand craftsmanship."
The village commissioned Max-Cast Inc., in Kalona, Iowa, to build the $40,000 bronze reproduction using the original, cast-iron trough as a mold. The more durable bronze will not rust and will "last for the ages," Hansen said.
"If it's going to be displayed in such a prominent place, you really want to strike the balance between historically correct and attractive, and lasting a long time," Hansen said. "And I think they did all those things in this one project."
The village didn't set a deadline for the project, a delicate process because of the frail condition of the deteriorating horse trough, exposed to years of the elements and damage from car collisions.
"We want to have quality work, and if it takes a little longer to do a really good job, we'd rather have a really good job, because it's going to be on display forever," Hansen said.
Max-Cast has remained in business for nearly 40 years, casting sculpture and architectural hardware. Collectively, artists Josh Wilson, Randy Lackore, Jeff Rinderknecht, Chance Sutter, Steve Maxon, Drew Boyson and Neil Wachal helped make the sand molds, poured bronze, and completed the finishing and welding.
"The pandemic kind of slowed things down at the end, but they persevered, and they really got it done," Hansen said.
After a year of such painstaking work, bringing the final product to Glen Ellyn made for a bit of a nerve-wracking journey that Hansen took on himself. He rigged up the back of a public works truck with ratchet straps and moving pads to secure the new monument.
"It didn't move an inch the entire trip," he said.
The original horse trough, meanwhile, is still being restored. The village will place the refurbished trough, covered with a white coating, in front of the Civic Center, likely after the Fourth of July.
In preparation of its return, Trustee Kelli Christiansen has written a history of the horse trough for a bronze plaque mounted alongside it.