Preparations are starting in an $825,000 restoration project to repair a more than century-old statue of a Native American overlooking the Rock River in northern Illinois.
Dr. AndrzejDajnowski, the project's conservator, says a crew has been testing various repair mixtures to fill cracks in the 50-foot tall statue. He says the statue remains surrounded with mesh and scaffolding that protected it over the winter.
The Ogle County statue stands on a 125-foot bluff at Lowden State Park. It was designed in 1910 and dedicated as a tribute to Native Americans the following year.
The statue was named in April to the state's list of Most Endangered Historic Places.
