Maybe next year for the Black Hawk statue?

By Vinde Wells

vwells@oglecountynews.com

A state official said late last week that work to repair the world-renowned Black Hawk statue may be completed in 2017.

“Once the services of the new conservator are secured, the IDNR expects the restoration work on the Eternal Indian statue to proceed in hopes of completing the project next year,” Tim Schwiezer, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), said in an email sent May 13.

According to some reports, sculptor Lorado Taft called his 50-foot concrete statue The Eternal Indian.

However, it is better known as Black Hawk after the Sauk medicine man whose people hunted and fished throughout the Rock River Valley before the arrival of settlers from the East Coast.

Created by Taft in 1910 as a tribute to all Native Americans, the statue stands on a 125-foot bluff overlooking the Rock River at Lowden State Park near Oregon and draws thousands of visitors each year.

It was unveiled and dedicated in 1911.

The IDNR did not renew its contract this year with project conservator Dr. Andrzej Dajnowski from Conservation of Sculpture & Objects Studio, Forest Park.

Dajnowski said last week he did not sign the new contract because he did not agree with the methods it stipulated for restoring the statue’s crumbling exterior.

He said the new contract also gave him no compensation for the scaffolding which surrounds and protects the statue.

Most of the scaffolding, which completely surrounds Black Hawk, belongs to Dajnowski, but he rents some portions of it.

Green plastic mesh is wrapped around it to protect the statue from the elements, particularly winter weather, and prevent further damage.

The scaffolding has been in place since December of 2014 when Dajnowski and his crew built it around the 105-year-old statue, put a roof over it, and then enclosed it in the mesh.

Dajnowski said he charges $75 per day for the scaffolding, and that cost has been paid so far by the Dillon Foundation, Sterling.

Schweizer declined to specify in his email the reasons the contract was not renewed, saying only, “The IDNR opted to seek the services of a new conservator.”

Schweizer said the state’s budget impasse has affected funding for the project.

“The funds from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity are still earmarked for the project; however, due to the budget impasse, there is no spending authority at this time,” he said.

The IDNR secured a $350,000 grant from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for the project.

The budget impasse means Dajnowski has not been paid for his services since last June.

“Payments for services billed prior to June 30, 2015 would have been paid, but the budget impasse means the IDNR has not had spending authority for the current state fiscal year. The scaffolding is still in place and is being paid for with private foundation funds,” Schweizer said in his email.

The state’s fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30.

A not-for-profit organization, the Friends of the Black Hawk Statue, raised most of the estimated $900,000 needed for the statue’s repair through fundraisers and securing donations over the last seven years.

However, Frank Rausa, Sterling, who heads the organization, said last week that much of the money has been spent while waiting for the state to release funds for the repairs.

Black Hawk’s home was in a large Sauk village near where the Rock River joins the Mississippi until the U.S. government resettled the tribe in Iowa.

Black Hawk led a band of Native Americans back into Illinois, leading to a conflict with settlers and the militia.

The first battle of the Black Hawk War was fought in what is now Stillman Valley in May of 1832.

The Sauk were successful in the first battle but were eventually defeated and driven back to Indian territory in Iowa.