Town Seeks To Repair ‘Wayside Cross’ at God’s Acre Before Veterans Day [CORRECTION]

CORRECTION: The town and Congregational Church of New Canaan, together, have been working to identify a contractor to repair the Wayside Cross. NewCanaanite.com should have included the church’s role in the original story. Asked for an overview of the church’s collaboration, the Rev. Dr. Stephen Chapin Garner said in an email, “We have had serval good, productive meetings to date, including meetings with monument companies. Most importantly, we are grateful no one was hurt in the accident when the Town of New Canaan Police Cruiser hit the Wayside Cross, and we expect to continue to have an amicable working relationship with the Town to repair this important and historic town treasure honoring our World War I veterans.”

Original Article

The town is in the process of selecting a contractor to repair a World War I monument at the foot of God’s Acre that was damaged last month during a police pursuit. 

Officials are seeking companies that have experience with larger monuments “because I think that’s a dying art,” Public Works Director Tiger Manns said when asked about the status of the Wayside Cross.

“I don’t think there are many people [in the field],” he said. “ So we have a couple of firms that we want to interview and make sure they can do the job. We’d like to have it done by Veterans Day.”

A police vehicle struck the Wayside Cross on God’s Acre while assisting in a pursuit, on Aug. 24, 2022. Credit: James Noble

Late on the morning of Aug. 24, police received a report of a vehicle with two men seen stealing mail from mailboxes on White Oak Shade Road. An officer stopped the suspect vehicle after spotting it on Locust Avenue, and it subsequently fled the scene. An officer trying to assist in the pursuit crashed into the Wayside Cross while trying to negotiate the curve at St. John’s Place and Main Street. The suspects were last seen traveling south on Route 106 toward the parkway, and the incident remains under investigation. The officer suffered minor injuries. 

The Wayside Cross is now leaning though the base of the monument appears to be intact, Mann said. It’s unclear whether it’s leaning due to damage to the stone or if the two pins underneath that ensure it’s upright are damaged, he said. 

“As you can imagine, it’s 100 years old and very important to the town, and others, so we want to make sure we are right before we touch it,” Mann said.