Committee hears progress report on Father Kapaun statue

Senator Blasey updated the committee that the memorial project for Father Kapaun has raised most of the funds and that the state has signed a memorandum of understanding with the project team. "They've raised almost all the funds," Blasey said, and the committee was told that only the memorial base funding remained uncertain.

Frank Burnham, director of facilities management, described the engineering review being done by the contractor to design a base that will distribute the sculpture's weight and avoid damage to floor joints. He said the installer has in-house engineering and "based on all the weight of the sculpture and the base, [we] still think we're well within the tolerances." The committee discussed location (2nd Floor, south wing, roughly a 3-by-3 footprint) and timing; Blasey estimated fabrication may take nine months to a year once the sculptor starts.