The completion of a Martin Luther King Jr. statue, which will stand in the Holmes Student Center, is pending approval by NIU’s Martin Luther King Jr. Statue Committee.

Eddie Williams, vice president of finance and planning, said art Professor Dave Bowers was in Pine Bluff, Ark. (where the statue is being designed by sculptor Ernest Davidson) last week to evaluate progress on the statue.

Williams said Bowers’ evaluation of the statue was “quite favorable.” He said the piece is coming along well. “Technically, the piece is very successful,” Williams said.

The contract states a member from the committee must check on the statue at various stages of progress and the work must be approved before the sculptor can proceed, Williams said.

Larry Robertson, Student Association minority relations adviser, said the committee is trying to approve the model. “Martin is a hard person to do. We (the committee) want to get as close to a quality product as possible,” he said.

Stanley Madeja, college of Visual and Performing Arts dean, said, “The university has to accept or reject the design of the proposal.”

“A decision on whether to accept the model probably will be made a month from now,” Madeja said.

The model is at a stage where the artist and NIU have to agree, he said.

“The committee is trying to get a likeness of Mr. King that everybody likes,” Madeja said,

The $21,000 statue is being financed jointly through administration and student fees.

Robertson said completion for the statue is tentatively scheduled for May, but no definite deadline has been set. “If it takes a little longer, it will be worth the wait,” he said.

Williams said the clay model should be completed in May or sooner, but the model has to be bronzed and shipped to NIU.

SA Vice President Cam Davis said, “We are anxiously awaiting some final project.”

The statue stands 7 to 8 feet tall and eventually will stand on a 3-foot pedestal in the student center, Williams said.