Slatington's century-old icon has been returned to its original home after three months of hard work for renovations.

The 6-foot-tall, 200-pound fireman statue once again overlooks Main Street after Slatington Hose Company No. 1 organized and executed the refinishing of the iron and zinc figure and water fountain perch.The fresh blues of the base and fireman's uniform matched the blue skies overhead on Saturday morning when community members gathered to welcome the guardian of the block back to its home."It looks better than it did before," said borough Mayor Walter Niedermeyer."It's a landmark of Slatington. People were asking where it was," he said."People came into my store every day in a panic looking for it," said Dan Stevens of the neighboring DL Stevens Antiques."Someone came in every day and asked what happened to it. Some people were really concerned," he said.The 500 block of Main Street was shut down for a half-hour while the statue was refixed to the base. A water line was turned on for the fountain, along with electricity to light the red lantern.According to the project's artist, John Stettner, the biggest challenge for the face-lift of the figure was the hours of prep work that was needed before the painting took place."We blasted the base with dry ice and then repainted it," said Stettner."It was shot out of a gun," said project manager George Kern."The dry ice, as soon as it hits, breaks the paint and rust and melts into the air. It cost $3,500 just for the base," he said."The statue was sanded with a power sander then by hand on the fine details. We used an oil-based enamel because of the weather," Stettner said.According to Kern of the Hose Company, 15 people volunteered to complete the three-month job."We modified it for the water and made a new drain," Kern said.The original drain inside the iron base was the culprit of the corrosion, Kern said."It had a French drain in it that ran along the curb, but it was sealed off," he said.Kern said the community was tapped to restore the 1910 statue, with Tom and Mark Szoke of Slatington Fabrication working on creating a new base for the heavy statue, complete with new bolts in the platform.The borough fixture was ordered from New York's E.T. Barnum Company in the summer of 1909 by the Hose Company to help provide water to the two- and four-legged borough travelers. The structure originally cost $700 and was placed on the Main Street block in the early fall of the following year."I'm happy with how it turned out," Kern said."We still need to add a few small finishing touches," he said."We are going to turn it over to the borough to take care of. There are only about 80 members left of the Hose Company," he said.Kern said the official rededication will take place Sept. 11.