By John McLoone

PRESCOTT – Abe the Eagle is coming to the Prescott riverfront.

The Prescott City Council on Monday, Sept. 26 approved spending $1,000 for a one-year rental of a nearly 12-foot tall, 950-pound stainless steel sculpture by noted Hastings artist Dale Lewis.

According to the artist, “Abe was named after a famous eagle that was taken into battle 37 times during the Civil War by the 8th Infantry Wisconsin.” The sculpture is covered in "stainless steel flatware and cooking utensils.”

A couple of Lewis sculptures, including “Sturgeon” are on display at Freedom Park, and there’s also a sculpture at Lucille’s in downtown Prescott. Several of his works adorn public spaces in Hastings and throughout the Midwest. Abe is currently on display in Ames, Iowa.

The city is hopeful that a second piece can be put in place with a private donation, and that donors will fund the Lewis work in years to come.

“I think this is a great addition,” said Alderperson Bailey Ruona, who chairs the Parks and Public Property Committee. “I think Abe the Eagle is a perfect fit for the first one that could go down there. The whole idea is to increase tourism and to increase a variety of things, not only trails but art also.”

The money will come from the city’s share of tourism dollars collected through the city lodging tax.

Alderperson Thomas Oss also suggested that the Prescott Area Historical Society be enlisted to help put a plaque with the statue commemorating the local soldiers who fought in the Civil War.

“The muster point for Prescott was right up the hill at the UCC Church area back in the Civil War time. The troops gathered here and then took the train to join the Union Army. Dallas (local history expert Dallas Eggers) would know the particulars. I would like to see some kind of plaque indicating that,” said Oss.

“That’s a good idea,” Ruona responded, adding that the committee will take it up at a coming meeting.

In other business, Mayor Robert Daugherty brought up needs at other city properties, in light of discussion at a council workshop Sept. 21. There were several parks initiatives that were introduced, and Daugherty said the council may need to relook at prioritizing city needs.

The council’s Finance Committee was scheduled to review the budget at a meeting Oct. 6 at 4:30 p.m.

“When we held our council workshop, we talked about throwing a lot of money in parks. That’s all a good thing, but there’s a lot of other good things in the city that need to be taken care of,” Daugherty said. “I’m just giving you this food for thought.”

He pointed out that the fire station needs some siding re- pair, and new flooring at the library has been discussed.

“We’ve talked about that for a couple years. That’s never gotten done,” Daugherty said.

He noted other repairs needed at city hall.

“There’s a lot of things that need to be done. I’m not saying not putting any money into parks are a good thing, but that can’t be our focus,” he said. “We need to maintain what we have done.

We don’t want anything to fall into disrepair, like the building downtown that we sold for $1. We have to maintain all our things. There are things that the stau did not bring up at that meeting.”

The downtown building Daugherty referred to now houses the Prescott Area Historical Society and the Prescott Area Chamber of Commerce.

Daugherty said the council needs to hear from all the stau on what needs to be done.

Ruona agreed all departments need to be looked at but questioned why items weren’t presented at the workshop.

“Did this just come up in the last couple days?” she asked.

Daugherty said, “It’s food for thought, because we have a budget meeting coming up.”