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Elder Park is new home for family’s statue
Workers from Elanar Construction Co. steady the statue of a former Winnetka little girl, as her new home in Elder Park is prepared. | Tamara Bell~Sun Times Media
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Updated: July 3, 2012 9:40AM
The Lundells’ little girl will enjoy Elder Park in Winnetka for decades to come, and so will people who come to the park and beach there.
When Jackie Lundell was 3 or 4 years old, her parents decided to have a sculpture made of her.
“I just love that age,” said Mark Lundell. The couple, who lived in Winnetka then, commissioned the sculptor Ann LaRose of Loveland, Colo. for the project.
“She comes out and spends a weekend with you,” Lundell said. He was very pleased with the life-size bronze sculpture of little Jackie in her bathing suit, holding a beach towel.
“We enjoyed it for years in our garden.” But when the couple decided to downsize and bought a condominium in Evanston last year, they knew it would be impractical to bring the statue with them.
“Even when I commissioned it, I thought I might donate it someday,” said Lundell, who has a dental practice in Winnetka. He called the Winnetka Park District and asked if they wanted it.
The park district was happy to accept the statue.
“The Lundells wanted to make sure it would have a good home,” said Robert Smith, superintendent of parks. “We evaluated all the different sites and chose Elder. The theme was appropriate for the beach,” Smith said.
The park district built a patio and pedestal for the statue and landscaped the area.
Lundell hopes his daughter Jackie, now a 21-year-old student at Boston College, will attend the dedication of the sculpture, tentatively scheduled for June 28.
“It doesn’t embarrass her,” for her younger self to be on display in the park, her father said.
