31-Foot Tall Lincoln Statue Makes Springfield Debut
After stops in Chicago and Peoria, the 19-ton sculpture named “Return Visit” took its place in front of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum on Wednesday.
The statue, showing Lincoln standing with a modern-day (note the Cubs logo) man holding the Gettysburg Address, is scheduled to stay there through September 2020.
Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau executive director Scott Dahl says it will cost $24,000 to bring the statue to Illinois’ capitol city. He says the visitors bureau and the presidential library will chip in to cover the costs. The visitors bureau also plans to make the statue part of its 2020 summer marketing campaign.
The statue previously was on display at Chicago’s Tribune Tower and the Peoria Riverfront Museum.