Report: Paterno to Get New Statue in State College
The man who brought you the giant statue of Frank Rizzo across the street from Philadelphia’s City Hall is now giving Joe Paterno the treatment — designing an alumni-supported sculpture that will sit two miles from where a memorial to the late Penn State football coach was pulled down in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky scandal.
Two alumni already have received the OK from the borough to install a projected $300,000 life-sized bronze sculpture downtown, about two miles from the original site. And they’re hoping the statue, which will feature Paterno sitting on a bench reading Virgil’s “Aeneid,” will be installed by fall of next year.
They have already commissioned an artist, Zenos Frudakis, and will seek to raise $50,000 for “Joe’s Bench” on the funding platform Kickstarter come July.
“We just felt that the university was not ready yet” to honor Paterno, said Kim Intorre, one of the organizers. “But the community is.”
ESPN adds: “The new statue will be installed near the entrance of The Tavern Restaurant, on a walkway off East College Avenue, and will replace two marble benches. The organizers hope to unveil the finished project by the 2015 season opener but, at the latest, by November 2015.”
