Independent Man is back on top. “We’ll never see this again.” • Rhode Island Current

“I've been waiting for this day. I am very emotional. This is fabulous.”

That's what Providence resident Priscilla Jackon said as she stood on the sidewalk in front of the Rhode Island State House Wednesday morning. Jackson, with a metal cart and folding chair in tow, was one of dozens of Rhode Islanders who came to witness the Independent Man's return home.

The moment the statue left the ground was easy to miss — at least if you were that reporter, scanning the crowd's reactions and turning to see a car driving by, its dashboard littered with colorful plastic toys. The driver of the car was distracted by the sight of the independent man, who appeared to be no longer on Earth.

The climb took all of five minutes. The “Independent Man” floated in mid-air before settling on the gleaming white marble dome of the State House. Suspended from a crane and clad in a scarf, the statue captivated the paparazzi watching from below – some onlookers used only their eyes, but just as many watched the historic event through a camera viewfinder or phone app.

When the crowd dispersed about 20 minutes later, workers upstairs at the Rhode Island State House were still completing the installation after scaffolding had largely obscured the gold figure of the “Independent Man.”

The statue's flight was comparatively short compared to the time it spent on the ground; The independent's stay lasted just over a year. During a State House restoration project in September 2023, state officials became concerned about the statue's support base after drone footage revealed flaws in the structure. While the independent remained unharmed, the statue remained unharmed removed in December 2023 so that its base could be repaired.

Renovating the marble dome and bringing Independent Man back cost about $1,264,044, Department of Administration spokeswoman Karen Greco wrote in an email Wednesday. This estimate is ahead of final bills, which are expected to be submitted in early 2025.

“The vendors associated with the final leg of its journey include architectural firm DBVW and engineering firm Odeh, EverGreene Architectural Arts for final touches to its restoration, and contractors ECMRI, which repaired the dome, replaced the marble and lifted it back into place,” said Greco.

Restorers refreshed the gold leaf of Rhode Island's iconic monument while it lay on the ground. After the makeover, the Independent Man had an extended stay in the lobby of the State House May 4th through Dec 9th.

“I’m an independent woman,” said Jackson, who has lived in Providence for 40 years. “And that’s just – we’ll never see that again.”

The numbers support Jackson's assessment that the scene was a once-in-a-lifetime event – maybe even twice in a lifetime if you're lucky. Since the statue was erected in 1899, it has only been toppled twice. The Golden Man's second commission came in 1975, for both repairs and the application of gold leaf.

“This man represents the independence of every human being,” Jackson said.

While most people clung to the north entrance of the State House, people also gathered across the street and stood in front of the state's administrative offices. A man used a book to shield his eyes from the sun, whose rays collided with the arch of the statue. State House employees could be seen on the building's balconies.

On the steps of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation headquarters was Kathleen L. Caswell, a photographer from Kingston, armed with a tripod, a Nikon D80 and a near-telescopic 600mm lens. Caswell said she is documented the project every step of the way.

Caswell said she often travels in her RV and that her usual subject matter is what sparks her interest in her travels. She began following the saga of the Independent Man and was soon touched by the workers who had made the trial possible.

“The enthusiasm these men had in their work and the pride they had in the job… (I) got to know most of them and I'm totally impressed by it,” Caswell said.

As the Independent Man was already on the scene, a woman driving down Smith Street turned her attention to the commotion. Then she stopped, parked her SUV on the side of the road and started taking a photo. A police officer told the woman that she was not allowed to park there.

“I can’t really see it,” she said, hurriedly looking at her phone to examine the photo she’d taken. “But that’s okay, I get the idea.”

She got back in her car and drove off with her souvenir.