The famous heads of four US presidents etched on the granite face of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota has awed and inspired millions of visitors. The skulls were too far up and out of reach for David Adickes, a sculptor from Houston. As a result, Adickes planned to construct a structure that would let people get a closer and clearer view of the presidents’ heads. Just 40 miles from Mount Rushmore, in the hamlet of Lead, Adickes set out to create his own “Presidents Park.”
Molds were made in Adickes’ Texas studio with polystyrene and plaster. The skulls of 43 presidents were then cast in white Portland cement in the molds. Although the heads are empty, the busts are 16 to 20 feet tall and weigh almost 18 tonnes each, as per amusing planet reports.
Adickes also opened a second Presidents Park in Williamsburg, Virginia, and a third in his hometown of Houston in the same year. Adickes would have undoubtedly built many additional parks if his project had been successful.
Unfortunately, in 2010, all three parks were forced to close due to a lack of public support and an inability to keep up with funding. Some of the big heads were taken off to beautify RV parks and hotel and inn lawns, but others remain abandoned behind barred gates.
Before the site could be auctioned off, Howard Hankins who helped the construction of this park was instructed to demolish the busts. Hankins planned to take the busts to his 400-acre estate in Croaker because he couldn’t bring himself to do it. All 43 busts in Williamsburg, Virginia, were relocated to Howard Hankins’ family farm.
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