Presidents Park was a ten-acre sculpture park and associated indoor museum formerly located in Williamsburg, Virginia in the United States. It contained 18-to-20-foot (5.5 to 6.1 m) high busts of the presidents of the United States from George Washington to George W. Bush.[1]
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![]() ![]() Presidents Park Presidents Park was located in Southeastern Virginia | |
Established | March 2004 (2004-03) |
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Dissolved | September 30, 2010 (2010-09-30) |
Location | Williamsburg VA, U.S. |
Coordinates | 37°15′39″N 76°38′42″W |
Type | Sculpture park |
Collections | Busts of the first 43 presidents, spread over 10 acres (4.0 ha) |
The statues were sculpted by Houston artist David Adickes,[1] who was inspired as he drove past Mount Rushmore when returning from a trip to Canada.[2] The park was opened in March 2004 by local visitor attraction entrepreneur Everette H."Haley" Newman III, who had been slowly taking delivery of the busts since 2000.[3]
The park had financial troubles and was closed on September 30, 2010.[4] Creditors put the park up for auction (not including the busts) on September 28, 2012, after a foreclosure auction originally scheduled for April 26, 2012 was cancelled without explanation.[5] By January 10, 2013, the busts had been moved to private storage at a nearby local farm in Croaker, Virginia by Howard Hankins.[6] In 2017, National Geographic showcased a video in which Mr Hankins' expresses a hope to rehabilitate the statues for a park in the future.[7][8]
Artist David Adickes sculpted a second set of Presidential busts. They were placed on display at a similar outdoor park museum setting in Lead near Deadwood, South Dakota which was operated by the artist himself, until it too closed after financial difficulties.
Some of the South Dakota busts could still be seen in 2015 at various RV parks and hotels around the Dakotas.
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