Staff Writer

Troy’s eternal flame has turned out to be temporal.

The flame atop the nine-foot monument created for the city’s millennium celebration was lit on May 6, 2000, but has been temporarily extinguished.

Troy Mayor Jimmy Lunsford jokes "it was eternal until Feb. 21."

All jokes, aside, the design has created a costly problem for the city.

"We realized the way it was designed was using too much gas and was not cost effective," Lunsford said.

A one-month bill from the Southeast Alabama Gas District of $600 reaffirmed any thoughts of redesign.

"That’s too expensive. Especially with the price of gas, it was cost prohibitive," Lunsford said of keeping the flame alight.

In addition to the cost involved in keeping it burning, the flame was put out whenever a strong wind or rain was in the area.

Because of the problems, Lunsford has asked the Southeast Alabama Gas District to look into the matter.

As far as the design, Lunsford said, the city may choose to go back to the original drawing that included a globe over the flame, which would eliminate the problem of it being extinguished by rain or wind.

There is no timetable as to when the flame will again be lit and, hopefully, burn eternally as originally planned.