COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — The University of Missouri plans to spend $550,000 this summer to repair its iconic columns on the Francis Quadrangle.

The six columns were built on the campus in 1842, and have been battered by weather and students over the years.

The Columbia Missourian reports the repair work will include smoothing and sealing cracks, attaching loose stones and sanding veins. Scaffolding went up last week and work is scheduled to start Monday.

Jeffery Brown, senior director for campus facilities, says the columns are structurally sound. Neither Brown nor Majid Amirahmadi, the principal architect on the project, could predict how long the repairs would last.

The columns are all that remains of the school’s original Academic Hall, which burned down in 1892.