Five months after the Columbus statute in front of City Hall was decapitated by a vandal with a hammer, a sculptor set the repaired head back in place Wednesday morning. “I think the sun is out, so God’s in our favor, I think,” Francine Nido, head of the Waterbury chapter of Italian-American service organization UNICO told sculptor Randall Nelson. Nelson had hoped for warmer temperatures.

He arrived at City Hall around 10 a.m. as the temperature hovered around 37 degrees Fahrenheit. That is not ideal for cement that ideally cures around 70 degrees. Lucky for Nelson, the break at the neck had been clean. There was no need for an anchor rod or cement patches. Chips in the head and a missing nose had been restored. It fitted back on easily at the neck and set with epoxy. UNICO raised $8,800 needed for the restoration.