Plaza Planned for Home of Pontiac Lincoln Statue

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PONTIAC - A plaza will be created to give an Abraham Lincoln statue a permanent place on the Livingston County Courthouse Square, and the public is being asked to help pay for it.The life-sized bronze statue of the countrys 16th president will depict him as a young lawyer in his 30s, the age he was when he visited Livingston County.The statue is the centerpiece of a two-year project in which the Lincoln Statue Committee is promoting awareness of the countys link to the famous president. Organizers also hope it will tie Pontiac into Lincoln-related tourism across Central Illinois."We want him to look the way he did when he visited here. It is lost history," said committee member Barb Sancken, a lifelong county resident who said she didnt know Lincoln had been in the county until she did research.The committee continues to raise money for the statue and plaza, which will feature benches, engraved bricks and lighting at night. The entire project will cost about $70,000, of which half has been raised so far.Large bricks have to be ordered by March 15, smaller ones by April 15.Brick cost $100 to $5,000 depending on the size. Committee member Dee Ingles said the bricks can be engraved with any message, including Lincoln quotes or statements honoring family members or groups.The statue will be on the south side of the courthouse, and the committee hopes to unveil and dedicate it this summer."The granite brinks will create a plaza for people to sit and reflect on him," said Ingles. "It will be permanent piece of history. It will be a large area."When Lincoln was 31, he opposed Stephen A. Douglas in the first case tried in the county. The pair went on the face each other in campaigns for the U.S. Senate and the presidency.Along with practicing law in the county, Lincoln spoke at the Pontiac Presbyterian Church in 1860. He stayed at 401 W. Livingston St., a home that still stands today.The statue will depict Lincoln leaning against a split-rail fence. His long-sleeved shirt will have the top button open, and hell be wearing a loosely hanging bow tie and vest. A long coat will be over his arm, and a watch chain will dangle from a vest button to a pocket.His signature hat will be resting on the fence.Sculptor Rick Harney started working on the actual statue in September, when the committee gave him the first payment. He had been working with a small, clay model and with a person and fence the similar to the size depicted by statue. A wax model has been completed.Harney also created the Lincoln statue on the McLean County Museum of History lawn in Bloomington. Like that sculpture, the Pontiac one will be designed to allow people to pose with it.

CUTLINE: The clay model of the proposed Abraham Lincoln statue would have stumps or a hay bail added to the left of Lincoln to allow people to pose with the former president.

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Plaza Planned for Home of Pontiac Lincoln Statue

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