New Flagpole in Works for South Common

The elderly 110-foot flagpole on the Mansfield South Common is well past prime time, say selectmen and town residents, and either needs to be painted and repaired, or completely replaced.

  Jess Aptowitz began the project in October, and was soon joined by Veteran's Agent John Hogan, T and West Mansfield resident Denise Anderson, mother of fallen soldier Corey Shea, who was killed in Iraq in 2008.  Anderson said she would help raise funds for the costly effort, and said she hoped the new flagpole could be dedicated to Shea, in appreciation of his sacrifice. 

Wednesday, Dec. 8, Ross reported to the board he has been "working diligently" with a flagpole company as well as a restoration expert who says the pole can be scraped down, repainted, shortened, and outfitted, for a fraction of the cost of the replacement.  The cost of a new pole alone will be about $12,000; but combined with the groundwork and brick replacement that would be necessary to remove the old pole from the ground, the whole project could top $25,000. Grinding the old paint off, repainting, and refurbishing would be a little short of $6,000, Ross said.  Ross said the most problematic part of the less expensive option would be the lead paint component - the stripping of the paint creates lead paint dust and chips that have to be safely contained. 

"We know there's lead paint, but the method used to get it down (from the flagpole surface) may not be approved," he said.

He explained the grinding process is the same used on ships' masts, with a mechanism that fits around the pole and then grinds it down to bare metal.  Ross said the regrinding, though cheaper, might present as many problems as it fixes.

 "Are we putting lipstick on a pig?" he asked.  He added he has no idea what the footing under the present flagpole is, or what will be the results of trying to dig it up and replace it.

 "The whole brick walk will have to be torn up," said Ross.

Ross said he has spoken with firms that sell both fiberglass and aluminum poles, and said they seem to be about the same price.

The board is eager to get the project underway, and they have said a number of residents are already waiting with donations in hand. 

Anderson and her husband Jeff Margolin have put a used car donation program in place, run out of their business in Norfolk, where proceeds from the sale of the donated vehicles to vendors can be used for a memorial fund in the name of her son, and she has said the fund will donate money to the flagpole replacement project.

 "Shortly we will figure out which option we want to use, and then we can get donations," said Ross.