Photo courtesy of Jessie Hall

A statue of a Confederate soldier outside the Franklin County Courthouse was damaged in June 2007 when a truck ran into it.

ROCKY MOUNT -- A Confederate soldier statue stood in front of the Franklin County Courthouse for close to a century.

But since it was knocked over and severely damaged by a pickup truck in June 2007, it's taking awhile to get Johnny Reb back in place.

The Franklin County Board of Supervisors rejected bids Tuesday to replace the statue and will seek more proposals.

The statue, a tribute to Civil War soldiers placed in front of the courthouse in 1910, was damaged when a driver, who was believed to have had an epileptic seizure, lost control of the truck and it careened into the statue. The county, with input from the community, decided to replace the statue.

A $162,949 budget has been set, a combination of insurance money and a $500 donation from former Republican state Sen. Charles Hawkins of Chatham.

Two of the three bids that were received -- from John Milner Associates of Alexandria and the out-of-state Providence Construction -- were over budget.

A third, submitted by Rock of Ages, a Vermont company, was within budget, but it did not include the cost of a new foundation for the statue, said Mike Thurman, Franklin County's director of public facilities.

Also, the company requested that the county provide the equipment to load the remnants of the statue onto their truck so it could be taken to Vermont and used as a model for the new statue.

"We have had response from other firms since the bid closed," Thurman said. "We hope to reach more the second time around." The project will be re-advertised immediately, he said.

In another procurement matter Tuesday, the supervisors also rejected the one bid received for a project to stabilize the shoreline at Smith Mountain Lake Community Park. A new round of bids is scheduled.