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Jonesboro committee gets a preview of Lincoln statue

BY CALEB HALE, the southern

Friday, September 21, 2007 9:10 AM CDT

JONESBORO - Abraham Lincoln stood in life-size statue form in the Jonesboro park named for him Thursday with only one problem, said Tom Allen of Makanda.

"His eyes are too narrow, too close together, and the bridge of his nose needs to be widened," the sculptor said.

That was the artist in Allen talking. He has spent three months sculpting figures of Lincoln and one-time senatorial rival Stephen A. Douglas, both of which will soon stand in the park, the site of their famous 1858 debate.

See a slideshow of the statue here.

There's no such thing as perfection, he said, but Allen has a little more time to fine tune the clay before the statue is sent off to the foundry to be bronzed.

Douglas is already there, Allen added, and Lincoln will have to be ready for a grand unveiling by February when the local Lincoln-Douglas Debate Ses-quicentennial Committee plans to have both sculptures in place for a new memorial.

"It'll kick off the year for the September 2008 debate re-enactment. Lincoln's 200th birthday is the following February, so it will also kick off a year-long celebration," said Linda Hileman of Cobden, who co-chairs the committee with her husband, Duane.

The committee has raised roughly $100,000 toward an anticipated $200,000 goal.

The Hilemans said the final amount may be lower in the end, but the committee will work to provide as nice a memorial as they can for the community.

"If (the money) comes in we'll do it nicer; if we're desperate we'll do it ourselves," Linda Hileman said.

Members hope to add a brick courtyard to accompany the statues. They have already painted footprints from the nearby Jonesboro Square up North Main Street, representing the path Lincoln took to get to the debate.

In addition, the committee would like to establish an information center in a vacant building on the town square, but achieving that goal largely depends on how much additional money the group raises.

More information about the committee and contributions is available by calling 833-8745.

caleb.hale@thesouthern.com / 351-5090@thesouthern.com / 351-5090