Today the newly restored Lincoln Monument in Lowell’s Lincoln Square was unveiled. The restoration is magnificent in its own right, and as City Manager Bernie Lynch stated at the ceremony, the restored monument will hopefully serve as a type of catalyst for the continued restoration of the Lower Highlands neighborhood. Besides the monument itself, the highlight of the day for me was the wonderful rendition of the Star Spangled Banner by the 24 students from the nearby Lincoln School who joined the celebration clad in Lincolnesque stove pipe hats. Here’s a slide show from today’s unveiling with a handful of pre-restoration pictures I took last August: