Repairs completed to Ben Franklin's grave

Ben Franklin's grave marker at Christ Church has been fully restored just in time for the summer tourist rush, and will be re-opened to the public Tuesday night.

The worn marble ledger tablet that marks Franklin's grave developed a significant crack over time caused by water damage. The tens of thousands of pennies tossed by tourists onto the marker each year also contributed to the deterioration. (Franklin coined the term "a penny saved, is a penny earned.")

"You can barely see [the crack] now," said John Hopkins, the burial ground and tourism manager for the Christ Church Preservation Trust. The slab was lifted up, drainage was added and the crack was sealed, he said.

Franklin, who died in 1790, is one of five signers of the Declaration of Independence buried at the site. Also interred there are Franklin's wife, Deborah Reed; his daughter, Sarah; and her husband, Richard Bache.

The restoration took 45 days and cost $80,000. Contributions from the University of Pennsylvania, musician Jon Bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the public helped pay for the restoration, Hopkins said.

The ice cream will be from Franklin Fountain and the beer from St. Benjamin Brewing Company, Hopkins said.

As for the damage done by the pennies, Hopkins said visitors would be encouraged to put donations in a box near the gravesite instead of tossing them on the grave. Signs will be added, he said.

"You are not going to change a tradition overnight," he said.