“Because of all these fine details, we want to give visitors the opportunity to look up at the arch and experience the story of the Civil War,” Taylor said. “And it should be in an environment in which our visitors do not feel threatened by the passing cars.”

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In Spring 2006, the Bushnell Park Foundation announced its plan to protect the arch by widening and raising the sidewalks and slowing drivers by means of a speed table grooved into the roadway. The plan also calls for significantly brighter streetlights.

“We want to change the straightway ‘city street’ feel,” Osten said. “By using large decorative planters, we will add some gentle curves. This will turn the street into more of a lovely park byway going under the arch.”

Because the arch’s sculpted details invite visitors to look up at it for long periods of time, the Bushnell Park Foundation is also installing half walls for people to sit on. These 3-foot-high walls will run the length of the street and will likely be made of brownstone similar to that used in the historic arch.

“The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch is important to the citizens of Hartford,” Taylor said. “From a historical perspective, it commemorates the 400 Hartford men who died in the war; that was 10 percent of our population at the time. But the arch also has important meaning in present-day Hartford. Our annual marathon race ends at the arch; our parades go through it. We are proud of the men who fought in all branches of the military, and our memorial arch shows that: an anchor for the navy, swords for the cavalry, cannonade for the artillery regiment and rifles for the foot soldier infantry.”

As for Keller, he remained immensely proud of his structure, collecting positive and negative critical reviews of the memorial arch in a scrapbook. When he passed away in 1935, his request was fulfilled to be laid to rest in the arch. In the east tower of the arch, behind a simple iron door, the ashes of Keller and his wife are interred. A plain inscription reads: “George Keller, architect. Mary, his wife.”

Yvonne Pesquera is a freelance writer in San Diego, California.

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