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The El Dorado Economic Development Board announced Wednesday plans for a “grand new monument” to help beautify the city as part of the El Dorado Forward plan.

Dubbed Mount Gushmore, the 60-foot, $2.8 million granite structure will be built to resemble the famous Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, said El Dorado Mayor Mike Dumas, who called the idea “bloody brilliant.”

Appearing on Mount Gushmore will be Dumas, Murphy Oil CEO Claiborne Deming, and local business owners and do-gooders Richard and Vertis Mason. Vertis Mason is also an El Dorado alderman.

An independent panel, hired at a cost of $400,000, was brought in to choose local figures who might look appealing in granite, and who have “done good things for the city,” EEDB members said.

Everything is being funded by the El Dorado Forward 1 cent sales tax.

“We really do feel like this is money well spent, and I’m not just saying that because my moustache will be 6 feet long and visible from Norphlet,” Dumas said. “I really think this city needs more monuments.”

Vertis Mason called the idea “odd,” but agreed that she would like to be able to see herself from the window of her husband’s plane, Red Scarf 1, as they fly into and out of El Dorado.

“Sure, it will be a little weird at first, but I think I can get used to it,” Vertis Mason said. “After all that Richard and I have done for El Dorado, this is the least they could do to pay us back.”

Deming was unavailable for comment.

The monument will be built on the old County Market site on North West Avenue. Construction is expected to begin in September.

This artist’s rendering (although crude) was issued to give the public an idea about how the monument will look.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 at 7:09 pm and is filed under By John Worthen, Satire Wednesday. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.