A date has finally been set for the official dedication of a newly sculpted, life-size 400-pound statue of Abraham Lincoln in Wilkinsburg.
Following a series of unforeseen logistical delays, the new statue of the 16th president of the United States will be erected on July 24 at 10 a.m. at the intersection of Penn Avenue and Ardmore Boulevard.
After a delay, Saturday, July 24th has been chosen as the date for the placement and dedication of the new bronze, life-size statue of Abraham Lincoln in Wilkinsburg pic.twitter.com/BqpoEq9fmb
— Paul Guggenheimer (@PGuggenheimer) June 27, 2021
It was originally scheduled to be erected in June.
The Lincoln statue was unveiled in late February in the Wilkinsburg Borough Municipal Building. It has remained there on public view while a specially designed black granite base is being put in place at its future outdoor home atop the Penn Avenue Lincoln Highway Hill.
The approximately 6-foot-4 bronze statue (same height as the man himself) will replace the battered sheet-copper Lincoln statue that was dedicated in 1916 and stood for over a century. The new statue is two feet taller than the old one.
The program will include an invocation similar to the one given when the original statue was dedicated as well as the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
“We’re trying to recreate some of what they did during the dedication back 105 years ago,” said Wilkinsburg Historical Society President Anne Elise Morris, who led the campaign to raise more than $70,000 to build the statue.
World-renowned sculptor Susan Wagner, a Penn Hills native who designed the new statue, will be on hand to unveil it. The featured speaker is Lincoln expert David Wiegers, who manages a Facebook site called “Images of Abraham Lincoln,” and the master of ceremonies will be WTAE-TV anchorman Andrew Stockey.
There will be free parking at UPMC Graham Field, about a quarter-mile from the Lincoln site on Penn Avenue, and free shuttle service.
“We’re hoping that we have a great turnout of people who want to see the Lincoln statue unveiled and back in his regular spot up on the hill,” said Morris. “It just feels wonderful. The people of Wilkinsburg wanted this to happen so much that they contributed their finances and their efforts to make sure to get Lincoln back up on the Lincoln Highway.
“Lincoln’s been there for a 105 years and it’s a good thing to get him back in that spot.”
