Although plans to create a memorial statue for slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King began about four years ago, his likeness has yet to be displayed in the Martin Luther King Memorial Commons.

Patricia Hewitt, NIU assistant director of budget and planning, said the Student Association’s Minority Relations Committee decided to wait until the beginning of the fall semester to contact sculptor Ernest Davidson about the progress of the statue.

SA President Paula Radtke said contacting Davidson to check on the progress of the statue during the summer was difficult because there was no telephone in Davidson’s studio.

The statue is in a clay mock-up form after Davidson made the changes that were directed by the committee last May, said Stanely Majeda, College of Visual and Performing Arts dean.

Majeda, who acts as a “friendly adviser” to the committee, said there have not been any new developments about the completion of the statue since the spring semester ended. A committee meeting is anticipated in the next two to three weeks, he said.

Radtke said representatives from the NIU School of Art, Office of Budget and Planning and “one or two students” will look at and either approve the statue or designate changes to be made.

The $21,000 statue is being financed jointly through NIU administration and student fees. The student fees portion of the cost is about $7,000, she said.

Another factor in the statue’s delay is NIU must wait to place the statue in the commons until future renovation of the area is complete.

The timetable for the commons’ renovation has been set back due to the unexpected repair work needed on the Holmes Student Center Tower, said Conrad Miller, physical plant administration and support service manager.

Renovation work on the commons is being delayed because a “staging area” is necessary for the construction on the student center tower, he said.

There are also concerns the construction work on the tower might accidentally damage the commons renovation work, Miller said.

The timetable on the tower repairs also has been lengthened because the original repair bids were higher than anticipated, Radtke said.

The Board of Regents must approve the new bids for the tower repair, Miller said. The bids and a feasibility study of the tower repair work will be presented to the Regents at their October meeting, he said.

Miller said there might be a chance to coordinate the two building projects, but “the rebuilding of the HSC tower section would have to be done cautiously so that (the commons) renovation work is not destroyed during the construction process.”

Miller said he is “concerned” the $228,000 appropriated to the commons renovation through Build Illinois funds might be lost during the waiting period.

“Knowing the funding problem the State of Illinois faces, you have to ask yourself how long can we go without spending this money?” he said.

The seven-foot tall statue will stand on a three-foot pedestal and will be placed in the commons area near the north steps of Founder’s Memorial Library.

Former SA Minority Relations Adviser Larry Robertson said the time needed for the statue is necessary since “(we) are trying to get a quality product.”