SARATOGA SPRINGS — She’s the city’s most famous bronze resident — the winged Spirit of Life statue that overlooks Congress Park.

But the wall behind the statue could face further deterioration without intervention.

In the mid-1990s, vandalism was a concern at the memorial, but that hasn’t been a problem recently, perhaps because of the video cameras that were installed in the park.

Now, Mother Nature is the Trask Memorial’s biggest enemy.

There are deteriorating mortar joints and cracks in the stone walls, and stucco on the masonry has chipped off in some places, said Lew Benton, city administrator of parks, open lands and historic preservation.

“The damage to the flanking walls is probably principally caused by the infiltration of stormwater,” Benton said.

While the angel herself was fully restored in the 1980s, the limestone and masonry walls flanking her have seen only piecemeal work, including mortar joints that don’t match the stone work and new pipes that are exposed on the base.

The city has applied for a $175,000 matching grant from the state to restore the limestone wall, reflecting pool and sitting area at the 1915 memorial that Katrina Trask commissioned for her husband, Spencer Trask, a champion of the mineral springs that bubble to the surface in the park.

The same two men who later created the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., collaborated on the Spirit of Life — sculptor Daniel Chester French and architect Henry Bacon.

If the city receives the grant, a trained conservator will catalog how best to restore the walls, reflecting pool and the opposite seating area, Benton said. He estimates the project will cost $350,000, although the expert would determine a final price.

Benton expects to hear in November whether the city gains the grant.

The city applied for the grant after Christopher Flagg, senior restoration coordinator from the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, and Deborah La Breche, assistant city engineer, did a visual inspection to photograph the damage.

They found discolored stone and missing limestone panels, in addition to the numerous cracks and mortar joints filled with what appeared to be Portland cement, Benton said.

“All of the mortar needs to be removed, and these joints all need to be repointed by someone expert in this field of masonry,” Benton said.

While the ground around the walls originally sloped away from the wall to direct water away, the ground is now flatter and water can seep down, Benton said.

Also, exposed pipes at the base of the statue that apparently was added after the initial installation also would be hidden.

The bronze statue also would be cleaned and resealed as it was in 1983, Benton said.