It's Half-Time in the "Finial Four" Challenge

It seems we have casualties of the extreme weather which includes foul winters, dribbling April showers, and how 'bout that recent madness in March.  Mother Nature has descended on the Square with a "full courthouse press."  If you notice at the top of the clock tower of the historic courthouse, each of the four corners is supposed to be topped with urn-shaped "finials" perched on pedestals connected with balustrades in a very classic style of colonial revival architecture.  The design of the 1930's renovation of the courthouse was driven by the highest elected official of the County of Jackson, Judge Harry S Truman.  Even though the existing finials are a product of the award-winning courthouse exterior restoration from only about 10 years ago, each is in a state of severe deterioratioin, one on the southest corner had actually fallen off last year, and a second one fell off this week.  Yes, we are now 2 for 4 which makes it half-time in the contest of guessing how long it will take for the last one to drop.  If you look cl;oser, you can see at least one of those finials resting in the main roof gutter where it could also be contributing to other problems with keeping the building water-tight.  To the county's credit, they followed strict historic preservation standards in going with wood materials and even following every detail from the original blue prints dated September 2, 1932 that included Harry Truman's signature and stamp of approval.  The county's restoration was most definitely award-winning, but why do we already have failure with the finials?  A lot of experts agree that many of the products and materials that were available 80 years ago were a much higher quality than what is readily available today, especially when it comes to wood.  The worst thing that could happen to our investments is that they fail prematurely and actually contribute to deterioration to other historic elements because we were compelled to strictly follow historic preservation standards.  We have advancements in building materials that perform exceptionally very well in restoration projects.  Taking advantage of higher-performance products does not compromise historic preservation but can actually enhance historic preservation.  And giving property owners more flexibility when it comes to alternative materials will make historic preservation more agreeable and make it easier to initiate discussions on expanding the existing small local historic district, which seems to be the primary dilemma with local preservation efforts.  The City of Independence Heritage Commissioin and city staff needs to recognize this when they review projects with respect to preservation standards in the Truman Heritage District.  To emphasize this point, I suggest we have a city-wide contest for citizens to guess the exact time and date for which the last finial falls.  It's likely to go down to the buzzer.  And the winner could clain to be the champion of the "Finial Four."