Norwich – For the past six years, city Historian Dale Plummer has planned and hosted numerous free events to honor the city’s World War I veterans and call attention to the forgotten horrific war that ended a century ago.

At each event, Plummer placed a large white bucket in a prominent spot seeking small donations for the city’s ambitious effort to raise enough money to restore the city’s rusted war prize, a captured German howitzer that also lay forgotten in the back corner of a city Public Works garage.

This week, Plummer announced that the World War I Memorial Committee has come close enough to its goal to ship the rusted relic to an expert conservation company in Massachusetts to begin the nine-month restoration.

With the combination of small grants and donations, the committee to date has raised over $72,000 of the estimated $78,000 needed, Plummer said. The largest grant came from the former Norwich 350th anniversary nonprofit entity, whose remaining members agreed to allocate its funds toward the project, Plummer said.

The memorial committee was established by the City Council in 2018 to raise money for the restoration as part of the city’s recognition of the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. Plummer helped organize public fundraising events, including re-enactment encampments on the Norwichtown Green, a dog look-a-like contest in honor of a Connecticut hero war dog, and screenings of World War I films at the AMC Cinema in Lisbon.

But the COVID-19 pandemic derailed fundraising for a time and slowed the effort.

With fundraising continuing, including a planned golf tournament next June, the amount was enough for the city, which controls the money, to go out to bid for the restoration. The city recently awarded the project to Daedalus, Inc., of Watertown, Mass., which specializes in restoration of historic sculptures and monuments. The company was highly recommended by Norwich’s project consultant, Barbara Mangin, Plummer said.

Daedalus will transport the howitzer to its facility in Watertown for the nine-month restoration. The committee will have that long to figure out a permanent new home for the restored monument, which will become the city’s main World War I memorial.

Plummer said it would make no sense to return the monument to Chelsea Parade, where it would be exposed to the elements again. Ideally, the committee is looking for an enclosed, city-owned location. He said several possible sites are being considered, but it’s too early to name specific spots.

A dedication ceremony is in the works to mark the return of the restored piece, with World War I reenactor groups already expressing interest in participating.

“It’s not going to be fired,” Plummer added quickly.

Built in 1904 by the Krupp factory in Essen, Germany, the howitzer is one of only about two dozen of its kind still in existence, Plummer said. The lighter, more maneuverable gun was more prominent early in the war before the war’s signature’s trench warfare took hold.

Most were destroyed during the war, Plummer said.

When the war ended, Norwich joined cities and towns across the nation in petitioning the U.S. War Department to obtain a war prize to put on display. The Norwich American Legion obtained the gun in 1926, and Norwich installed it on Chelsea Parade.

Over the next several decades, the howitzer slowly rusted, and the wooden spokes on its wheels rotted off.

Plummer said he is confident the committee will find a suitable location for the restored gun to serve as the city’s World War I memorial.

“This gun will have some purpose in reminding people of the cost of these conflicts,” he said.

c.bessette@theday.com