Four optician-themed stone gargoyles will make their first public appearance in Hartford today in nearly 30 years.
The chimera, formerly atop the building demolished in the 1980s to make way for Statehouse Square, will be displayed for the next year at Harvey & Lewis Opticians on Asylum Street.
The optometry business was the original owner of the statues when it was housed in that now-demolished building, about a block up the street. Owner Jim Lewis’ great grandfather, Robert H. Lewis, brought the statues to the city in the 1920s.
Each statue is holding something optometry-related: a pair of binoculars, a pair of glasses, a pair of broken glasses and a box camera.
Statehouse Square developer Richard Gordon donated the gargoyles to the Connecticut Historical Society eight years ago, which cost him extra, according to owner Jim Lewis, who prior to 2006 had tried unsuccessfully to find a permanent home for the gargoyles.
The statues have been out of the public eye since then, Lewis said.
The one-year display is the result of an agreement between the business and the society, he added.
