Published: November 11, 2009 10:52 am      

Park to be studied before sculpture set

CLINTON — An engineering review will have to be conducted at De Witt Park to determine if the ground can support a 43,200-pound sculpture set to be donated to Clinton before it’s named the permanent home, Clinton City Council members said Tuesday.

The Committee of the Whole approved the measure based on a study to assure the ground won’t sink and that engineering costs would be covered by the sculptor’s fundraising efforts under way to build “The Necessity of Resistance.”

How much the study will cost is unclear at this point, but the goal of the capital campaign under way is $400,000.

The 16-feet-long, 12-feet-wide sculpture will be built by Earle Rock, a Clinton native who now works in Des Moines. Once the money is raised, Rock said he would take the next two to three years to construct it.

The sculpture will be an image of a man engaged in a struggle against both external and internal forces. The statue showcases a man in marble on a concrete base pushing against a 13-feet high reflective black granite monolithic wall.

The opposite side of the monolith will be the story of the hero myth in symbolic form with a culminating message of hope, according to a brochure about the proposed sculpture.

In other action, council members discussed the proposed Lincolnway Railport and agreed the city needs to work quickly on signing a 28E agreement with the Clinton County Board of Supervisors.

The agreement would detail the funding sources and clear up language to how the county would be paid back for its potential $4 million investment. Without the agreement, Clinton Regional Development Corp. President Steve Ames said the county will not move forward with its $4 million bond letting.

In other business,

• City Administrator Jeff Horne said he is working on improving the city phone system after the issue was raised by First Ward Councilman Bob Soesbe.

• The City Council unanimously approved a resolution to proceed with the issuance of a $3.1 million bond that would pay for construction at Liberty Square and Second Street, a new fire truck and additional road work.