Abilene ISD has approved the donation of six bronze school-aged student statues to the newly renovated Abilene Heritage Square during the May 11 AISD School Board meeting.
The statues were originally commissioned by Bill and Lila Senter and sat outside the AISD administration building at 241 Pine Street prior to the building’s renovation when they were removed and placed in storage.
The age of the statues is unknown, as the School Board has no record of their purchase.
“We cannot find any written record that Abilene ISD ever owned them. I don’t think we ever really did,” Joseph Waldron, the deputy superintendent for AISD, said. “We’ve asked a few people who’ve been around a little while, and what we can best tell is we know that the Senter family commissioned them. We know that they were on display here. So this action is to just kind of solidify that we support placing the statues at the new AHS.”
According to Waldron, the district was recently approached by Laura Moore, the executive director of the Grace Museum, who suggested that the school district move the statues to Abilene Heritage Square, the former home of Abilene High School and Lincoln Middle School.
A memorial sign will say something to the effect that the statues were commissioned by Bill and Lila Senter and were once on display at AISD, Waldron said.
“It’s a perfect place for them, and you know it when you see it,” Waldron said.
While the motion was approved during the Monday’s school board meeting, Waldron also announced that the statues had already been moved to Heritage Square.
“Spoiler alert, they’ve already been installed,” said Waldron.
Abilene’s historic Heritage Square will celebrate its grand opening this Saturday at 10 a.m.
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Abilene ISD donates student sculptures to Heritage Square
Reporting by Lauren Dossey, Abilene Reporter-News / Abilene Reporter-News
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