WATCH: Makeover of Johnson City Square Deal Arch Now Underway

A contractor has started a nearly half-million-dollar repair job on the historic Square Deal Arch at the Johnson City-Binghamton line.

Traffic is being detoured around the site of the long-awaited project on Main Street.

Main Street is closed from Floral Avenue in Binghamton to Beverly Place in Johnson City. Village officials expect the detour to be in place through the end of next month.

Endicott Johnson Shoe Company workers started building the Johnson City arch in April 1919. That arch and a similar structure both were dedicated on Labor Day the following year.

The village paid for an engineering study after some of the stone on the arch started to crumble and fall onto Main Street.

The state transportation department provided assistance to stabilize the structure.

Johnson City Mayor Martin Meaney said repair work was delayed because bids for the project came in much higher than village officials had expected.

The contract ultimately was awarded to Lupini Construction. The Utica company is to be paid $462,000 for the planned work.

The deteriorating arch was dismantled in 1976. Funding problems delayed a reconstruction project for several years. The arch was reassembled in 1982.

The just-started rehabilitation job is expected to be completed next fall.

Although the structure is commonly called the Workers Arch, it also is known as the "Endicott Johnson Workers' Memorial Arch."

VIDEO: WNBF News visited the project site on April 11, 2024.

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Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com. For breaking news and updates on developing stories, follow @BinghamtonNow on Twitter.