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Verity statue moved to MUM campus

The statue of George M. Verity, donated to Miami University Middletown in 2008, was cleaned and restored before it was moved.

Staff photo by Gary Stelzer The statue of George M. Verity, donated to Miami University Middletown in 2008, was cleaned and restored before it was moved.

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By Jessica Heffner, Staff Writer 10:52 PM Friday, November 13, 2009

MIDDLETOWN — George M. Verity has made his way back home with AK Steel’s donation of his statue to Miami University Middletown.

For 60 years, the statue stood at the entrance of the former Armco and AK Steel corporate headquarters building at 703 Curtis St. in Middletown.

The company felt that with Verity’s ties to the Middletown community, it was more appropriate to leave the statue here than move it to AK’s new corporate headquarters in West Chester Twp., said spokesman Alan McCoy.

The statue was moved earlier this month to the front of the Verity Lodge on the MUM campus after undergoing extensive restoration and cleaning. The company did not say how much was spent to dismantle and clean the statue and pour a new foundation for it.

The move proved appropriate: the MUM campus was formerly a park owned by AK predecessor Armco.

Verity, who founded the company in 1900, had a summer home where the Verity Lodge now sits.

“It was just obviously a really nice fit that this is where (the statue) would come,” said Jan Toennisson, spokeswoman for MUM. “We owe our existence to the company he founded.”

The donation of the statue was originally announced in May 2008.

Jeanne Hey, interim dean at MUM, said the school owes much to the steelmaker and the statue will serve as a “visual, daily reminder of that special relationship.”

The cast bronze statue was created by Amos Mazzolini of Yellow Springs. The statue was formerly dedicated at Armco April 22, 1948.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2843 or jheffner@coxohio.com.

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