Fundraising effort for Wilkinsburg's Abraham Lincoln statue moves slowly

There’s an empty pedestal at the intersection of Penn Avenue and Ardmore Boulevard. A lonely sign reads “Go Fund Me … Lincoln Statue for Wilkinsburg.”

For over a century, with a few interruptions, a copper statue of Abraham Lincoln stood on that perch overlooking the Lincoln Highway.

Now a group of Wilkinsburg residents continue to work on raising $70,000 to build a new bronze, life-size statue of the 16th president of the United States. The old copper one was the victim of several mishaps, the latest of which happened in November 2018 — a car lost control on Penn Avenue and plowed through part of the fencing surrounding the statue.

That’s when Wilkinsburg officials decided to bring Abe indoors. The statue has stood in the Wilkinsburg Borough building ever since.

“Everybody misses the statue. There’s this pedestal sitting there with nothing on it,” said Wilkinsburg Historical Society president Anne Elise Morris. “People drive by looking for the statue, and they ask, ‘When is there going to be a new Lincoln?’ ”

The fundraising effort that got underway last spring is progressing slowly. A GoFundMe page has helped to bring in a little over $10,000. At that rate, however, it would take at least six more years to raise the rest of the money.

Morris said the area around the statue was in bad shape and that may have been part of the reluctance people had to be more generous with their donations. She said recent efforts by the borough to refurbish that area, including the Ardmore wall behind the statue, are encouraging.

“I’m grateful because nobody wants to spend money on a statue and put it in a derelict-looking area and that’s a very high-profile corner,” she said. “It looked like that whole pedestal could give way, but they put in a reinforcing zigzag wall that will help to retain that hillside. So that even with all the rain we’re having, we’ll never see a statue come falling down.”

Morris said she has approached some corporations and foundations for help, but so far none has been willing to contribute financially.

“This is not a controversial person,” she said. “Abraham Lincoln has a darn good reason for being right there on the Lincoln Highway. He’s been there since 1916 so we feel it’s only appropriate to stick with that tradition.”

For now, Morris hopes that donations will pick up. She said the Historical Society appreciates amounts both large and small.

“I would love to get rid of my plywood sign on the pedestal and replace it with a statue,” Morris said.