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6/18/2009 11:13 AM

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Scott Beveridge

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CHARLEROI – There were pieces missing from 30 jigsaw puzzles at the Charleroi senior citizen center so James Phillips decided to do something clever with them.

Something big.

The Charleroi retiree has been using the otherwise useless puzzle pieces to build an 8-foot-tall replica of the Statue of Liberty that should be finished by July 4, 2010.

“It was something I thought was interesting,” said Phillips, 61, of Charleroi, who has always dabbled in art.

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He began working on the project July 2, 2008, in a back room at the center named Riverside Place in Charleroi Chamber Plaza. As of today, he estimates he has glued 95,000 of the tiny puzzle pieces to his masterpiece.

The base of the statue is supported by a Styrofoam frame. So far, he has completed Miss Liberty’s lower body, robe and eternal flame. He believes he will need another 95,000 pieces to finish her, as well as people to donate more puzzles for the job.

Phillips, a former shipbuilder for Dravo Corp. in Neville Island, says working on the sculpture eases the pain in his arthritic hands. He built barges and tugboats for the company, and also served on an aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy.

“Ships have always interested me,” he said.

He shows up at the center each morning at 8 a.m. and works on the statue until 3 p.m., said Melissa Georgagis, a senior center specialist in Charleroi.

“I just think it’s amazing, unique,” Georgagis said.

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