Dedication of Hamilton statue delayed/8-25
Reprinted with permission of the Journal-News
JournalNews
Tuesday,
August 24, 2004
By
Lisa A. Bernard
HAMILTON —
Groups leading an effort to place a statue of Alexander Hamilton on High Street
have set a new unveiling date for late October.
Officials with the City of Sculpture and Historic
Hamilton originally planned to reveal the statue last weekend, however, a lack
of certain materials pushed the project’s finish date back, said Gerry Hammond,
City of Sculpture board member.
“The granite selection we wanted for the base of
the sculpture and top of three pillars was not available, so we had to
postpone,” Hammond said.
The unveiling has now been set for 10 a.m. Oct. 23
on High Street between Second and Third streets. That portion of High Street
will be closed to traffic to allow room residents to gather for a planned
commemorative service, Hammond said.
Created by sculptor Kristen Visbal, the title of
the piece is “The American Cape” and depicts Hamilton with a flag wrapped
around him, moving in the wind like a cape. A series of concrete pillars with
granite tops will placed along Journal Square. Each pillar will have a plaque
with information about Hamilton’s life written by local historian Jim Blount.
Blount also gathered a collection of quotes from
Hamilton’s writings and speeches, including “Those who stand for nothing fall
for anything,” to be engraved on the plaques.
More than 480 individual donors have contributed
to the more than $200,000 project, Hammond said.
“This piece, in essence, has been purchased by the
by the citizens of Hamilton,” Hammond said. “It’s been a very long process and
learning experience, but I think it’s going to be a spectacular showcase for
the city.”
Hamilton signed the Declaration of Independence
and served as the first Secretary of the Treasury under George Washington. He
was instrumental in the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, writing most of
“The Federalist Papers,” a series of 85 essays that helped gain public support
for the Constitution.
Hamilton died July 11, 1804 after a famous duel
with Aaron Burr.
Contact Lisa A. Bernard at (513) 820-2186, or e-mail her at lbernard@coxohio.com.