Dedication of Smith statue is tonight

Both tourists and locals are expected to gather tonight in Nauvoo, Ill., for the formal dedication ceremony of a monument to LDS Church founder Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum.

Situated across the street from the reconstructed Nauvoo Temple, the statue of the two men has been in place in a public garden since December 2003 but has never been formally dedicated until now.

Elder Donald Staheli, a member of the Quorums of Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will be in the tiny town of 1,000 along with an expected several thousand tourists to participate in the 6 p.m. ceremony.

Sculpted by Utah artists Stan Watts and Kim Corpany, the bronze image "has great significance for many of the visitors to Nauvoo," said Rustin Lippincott, Nauvoo tourism director. "It is an honor and great significance to have Elder Staheli dedicate the statue on the opening night of the new Nauvoo Pageant."

The sculpture depicts Joseph and Hyrum Smith riding horses on their final journey to Carthage, Ill., several miles south of Nauvoo. It was in the jail at Carthage that an armed mob murdered the two brothers on June 27, 1844, making them both martyrs for their faith.

Lippincott said the artists began work on the statue early in 2003, often working 14 hours a day, six days a week. When the sculpture was complete, Corpany said she and Watts were "not capable of pounding as much clay as we have done," in such a short period of time. "I know we've had help."

Hundreds of thousands of visitors have seen the statue since it was shipped from Salt Lake City almost two years ago and lifted by crane onto a waiting pedestal.

The event will be followed by the opening performance of a new LDS pageant dedicated to Smith's role as founder of the faith and of the city, which ranked as the second largest in the state of Illinois during its heyday in the early 1840s.

Both the dedication and the pageant are part of a churchwide effort to celebrate the bicentennial of Joseph Smith's birth during 2005.

Lippincott said more than 250,000 visitors came to the town in 2004 to see the temple and Historic Nauvoo, a reconstructed pioneer village owned and operated by the LDS Church. He said since word of the new pageant became public earlier this year, hotel and motel bookings in the Nauvoo area are up over the same time last year, and he expects the crowds will continue throughout the summer months.

When asked if he anticipates a visit by LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley, Lippincott said he doesn't know of anything scheduled, but he would be happy to welcome the 95-year-old church leader to Nauvoo. Reconstruction of the temple and additions to the historic village happened under President Hinckley's direction, and the subsequent spike in tourism has boosted the local economy on a scale few local residents had anticipated.

"I would love to have him come because I would like to thank him for everything he has done for Nauvoo," Lippincott said. "It's really improved the quality of life here."

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E-mail: carrie@desnews.com