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Final push for statue support

Calvin Jones statue to be placed in front of main stadium entrance

ONE OF THE BEST — Steubenville High School Principal Ted Gorman stands next to a display case containing a smaller version of the Calvin Jones statue that will be placed at the main entrance of Harding Stadium later this year. - Dave Gossett

STEUBENVILLE — Steubenville High School Principal Ted Gorman has a vision of visitors walking across the parking lot at Harding Stadium and stopping in front of the Calvin Jones statue in the center of a brick walkway.

“The stadium will look completely different from last year’s football stadium with a new wrought iron fence and brick pillars at the main entrance to the stadium. And right in front of the stadium will be the Calvin Jones statue on a brick base with a short story about his life and accomplishments,” said Gorman.

Gorman and the Steubenville City Schools Foundation is in the process of a final fundraising campaign that will see the Calvin Jones statue placed in front of the main entrance to the stadium.

Brick pavers can be purchased or donations can be made to the Steubenville City Schools, Attention Calvin Jones Project, 420 N. Fourth St., Steubenville, OH 43952. Questions about the project can be answered at (740) 282-9741.

“The plaque on the base will explain Calvin Jones was a 1952 graduate of Steubenville High School. Calvin Jones was the winner of the Outland Trophy in 1955, symbolic of the best collegiate lineman in the country. He was a consensus All-American at the University of Iowa. He was also the Ohio High School lineman of the year and All-Ohio at Steubenville Big Red and was the first African-American to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine. He graduated from the University of Iowa with a 3.0 grade-point average. Jones declined to play in the National Football League because of lower wages paid to African-American professional football players and joined the Canadian Football League. Jones quickly made a name for himself in the league and was chosen to play in the Canadian League All-Star game in Vancouver. Unfortunately Calvin Jones was killed in a plane crash in the mountains of Canada while returning from the game in 1956. His Iowa Hawkeye jersey No. 62 is one of two numbers that the school has retired. And he was included first class of the Iowa Varsity Hall of Fame,” cited Gorman.

He noted the fundraising efforts to have a statue erected at Harding Stadium has raised $110,000, “but we still need approximately $45,000 to have the statue mounted this year.”

“I hope to see everything completed before the first football game this year. The brick base and pillars will be matched to the brick of Harding Stadium. At this point the new fence and pillars will be placed at the east side of the press box. We will continue the new fence to the lower entrance at a later date,” explained Gorman.

The bronze statue was brought to Steubenville during the 2016 football season.

Jerry McKenna, the sculptor who created the statue, e-mailed Gorman with his itinerary for the delivery.

“Jerry and his wife were delivering a statue to St. Mary’s College at Notre Dame and our statue. They arrived in Steubenville on schedule and we had several of our football players who carried the statue to its temporary home. The players were pretty impressed by the statue and the story of Calvin Jones,” related Gorman.

“Steubenville High School has presented the Calvin Jones Award to a football player every year since 1960. Anyone who has ever played Big Red football knows Calvin Jones. His dad died when he was about 1 year old, and Calvin was raised by a single parent. He was a football star but he didn’t forget his studies. Education was a priority and key to his success. We want our students to work hard and be the best they can be, just like Calvin Jones,” said Gorman.

“We have had people contact us from as far away as Iowa. They wanted to be part of this. We are now selling bricks for the base of the statue as well as brick pavers. The deadline to order a paver with a name or class graduation year or family names etched into the brick is March 15. It will take six to eight weeks to have the brick pavers completed for the unveiling ceremony set for this summer,” stated Gorman.

According to Gorman, the brick pavers will come in three different sizes.

“A $100 donation will buy an 4-by-8-inch paver, while a $500 donation will secure an 8-by-8-inch stone paver. A $1,000 contribution will buy an 8-by-16-inch stone paver,” noted Gorman.

“Harding Stadium is completely different from when I played football there in the 1980s. In those days Steubenville High School and Catholic Central High School were the only teams to play in the stadium. We are now a community access stadium with our two soccer teams playing on the turf along with the Harding Middle School teams, the Steubenville Tigers and the Franciscan University of Steubenville rugby team. And now we are ready to take it to the next level with our latest renovations and additions to the front entrance to the stadium,” remarked Gorman.

“How appropriate the statue will be on Calvin Jones Way in front of the stadium facing Sunset Boulevard. He will be here to greet all visitors to Harding Stadium,” Gorman commented.

“We want visitors to the stadium to look down from their seats and give back to the legacy of Harding Stadium,” declared Gorman.

(Gossett can be contacted at dgossett@heraldstaronline.com.)

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