Celebrity Paris Hilton stops by new sculpture in downtown St. Charles

ST. CHARLES – St. Charles Business Alliance Executive Director Jenna Sawicki was as surprised as anyone to see a photo of celebrity Paris Hilton posing next to the "Be You" sculpture that recently was installed in the new East Plaza/Riverwalk that is part of the First Street project in downtown St. Charles.

The St. Charles Business Alliance worked with Chicago-based artist Matthew Hoffman to have the sculpture made. On Monday, Hilton posted a photo of herself next to the sculpture on her Instagram page.

The post has generated more than 600,000 views and more than 1,000 comments.

"I have no idea why she was here," Sawicki said. "We were very surprised. We were very excited, but we were just as surprised as anyone else when I saw it pop up on her Instagram page."

She didn't know if Hilton is a friend of actor and St. Charles resident Donnie Wahlberg, who lives in St. Charles with his wife, actress and television/radio host Jenny McCarthy. Last month, the couple greeted hundreds of adoring fans at the opening of his Wahlburgers restaurant in St. Charles.

"I'm happy that she was here, because she has so many followers, and if you look at the comments, it seems like a lot of people are looking to make their way out here to see the sculpture, so we're happy about that," Sawicki said.

The sculpture was installed on July 28. She said it has been generating a lot of interest since its installation.

"I've heard of a lot of people stopping at it to take pictures," Sawicki said. "It's really cool, because the way it is lined up, you get the Municipal Building in the background, so people definitely know where you are when you take the picture."

Hilton's boyfriend, author, entrepreneur and investor Carter Reum, was born in Wayne.