Work Resumes To Restore Black Hawk Statue in Ogle County

OREGON, Ill. (AP) — Work has resumed on restoring a 48-foot tall statue of a Native American overlooking the Rock River in northern Illinois.

The Chicago Tribune reports the original hope was that the Eternal Indian statue would be complete one year ago. But scheduling conflicts, bad weather and greater-than-expected damage delayed work on the 270-ton statue, also known as the Black Hawk statue.

Last month, steam-cleaning and testing of material to fill cracks in the statue began.

Frank and Charron Rausa of Sterling have led a fundraising campaign to restore the 104-year-old statue. Frank Rausa says about $848,000 has been raised for the effort. He's hopeful the restored statue will be unveiled in July 2016.

Landmarks Illinois put the statue on its list of Illinois' most endangered historic places in April.

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