Schools

New Paterno Statue Planned for State College

The new statue will be downtown, off campus.

A statue of longtime football coach Joe Paterno is returning to Penn State.

The statue will not, however, stand outside of Beaver Stadium, as the former JoePa statue did.

The iconic statue of the coach leading his team to victory was installed in the fall of 2001. That statue was removed at the order of University President Rodney Erickson some two years ago in response to the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal

This new ode to JoePa will be off campus, in front of the The Tavern in downtown State College. Sculptor Zenos Frudakis will depict the coach seated on a bench, Onward State said, near the statue of the three pigs, a perennial student favorite. It will be on private property.

The Paterno family is not involved with the project, Onward State said, which is expected to cost some $300,000 and will be funded through a Kickstarter campaign.

Project organizers told Onward State that they were tired of waiting for the university to pay tribute to the coach.



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