Next week, Benningtonians might catch a glimpse of people suspended in midair, rappelling from the state’s tallest manmade structure, as a crew works to clear away crumbling stone from the Bennington Battle Monument.

Starting Monday, a group plans to scale the 306-foot obelisk to execute the next step in the state’s effort to restore and maintain the memorial to the Battle of Bennington.

Spectators are welcome to gather below to watch the aerial feat of a safety inspection team as they rappel and remove loose stone from the weather-worn monument, said Laura Trieschmann, the state’s historic preservation officer.

The monument has become saturated with an estimated 66,000 gallons of water, causing cracks to form and debris to fall from the structure, Trieschmann said. The problem spans back decades.

“Cracking of the stone occurred almost immediately upon construction,” Trieschmann said. “By the 1920s, we know from primary documentation that materials were falling off, and that was exacerbated by the ineffective and incomplete restoration efforts taken in the latter part of the 20th century.”

This is the fourth annual effort to remove debris from the monument, and the cost of this year’s proactive maintenance is $72,000, Trieschmann said.

The company the state Division for Historic Preservation contracts with, Vertical Access, has “already documented every crack and issue on the exterior of the monument,” she said.

After years of deferred maintenance, the division’s study of the monument found that restoration would require at least $40 million. The price tag sparked debate over whether restoration of the state’s historic monument is worth the cost or whether other innovative plans should be considered to commemorate the Battle of Bennington.

An idea to enclose the monument in copper, proposed by state Rep. Shawn Sweeney, D-Shelburne, gained attention in recent months, and Trieschmann said the division would study the impact and cost of the suggestion.

The monument will close for the team to dislodge loose stone between June 9 and 12, but the site is set to reopen just in time for the annual Vermont Days, a weekend of free entry to all state parks.

During its closure, Trieschmann said the division plans to erect a roadside historic marker to Seth Warner, a Vermonter and a member of the Green Mountain Boys who was crucial in the Battle of Hubbardton and the Battle of Bennington.

Trieschmann said that the division’s maintenance plan and effort to monitor cracks and remove rubble is about the safety of guests, staff and residents who continue to visit the second tallest unreinforced masonry structure in the nation and a key symbol of Vermont’s Revolutionary past.

“This is our greatest visited monument of the state’s historic sites, and we want to make sure that it remains open, but first and foremost is safety,” Trieschmann said.

This story was republished with permission from VtDigger, which offers its reporting at no cost to local news organizations through its Community News Sharing Project. To support this work, please visit vtdigger.org/donate.