At
long last, 'Flights of Learning' will land at North
Logan library
By Alice
Bailey
April 13, 2009 | NORTH LOGAN -- After years of planning
and fund-raising, the Friends of the North Logan City
Library are planning the dedication of the city's first
statue at the city library.
The statue will be in place between May 1 and May
5 and the dedication will happen at 1 p.m. May 16 at
the southwest corner of the library.
The name of the statue is Flights of Learning,
and it was designed by Bryce Petitt, a native of North
Logan. He approached the Friends with the design for
the 7-foot-6-inch statue several years ago, where he
gave an estimated cost of $18,000. A small model of
the statue has been in the library since 2001 next to
a collection box that has helped raise an estimated
$8,000 that has gone toward the purchase of the statue.
"It's a big relief to have the statue being completed,"
Marcia Cheney said. "The price of actually putting it
together increased a lot from the time it started. But
it'll be nice to have it done and out there."
The price of the statue has gone up since the initial
estimate to $25,000, due to the rise in the cost of
brass. Because the statue is funded by donations, the
rise in cost has delayed the statue's purchase.
The statue is of a young boy with an open book in
his hand that has birds flying out of the pages. It
will be placed on an 18-inch base that is 6 feet in
diameter. The base contract was awarded to Design West
this week.
The statue is meant to be practical, and the base
was designed so that people could sit on it.
"That's the sculptor's attitude," Keith Jones, president
of the Friends of the Library, said Thursday. "He would
rather people walk up and feel it and touch it and handle
than act as if it's something just to look at. He guaranteed
if anything breaks off, if a bird breaks off or anything,
he'll replace it because he knows it'll never break
off."
The majority of the proceeds for the statue have come
from the James Thorne Foundation, and Arts on the Lawn,
which is put on by the mayor annually.
For more information on the statue and the upcoming
dedication, go to http://www.northloganlibrary.org/
NW
MS |
