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Kalas statue project aims for a bronze

Olympians dream of gold, but the fans working to create a Harry Kalas statue are aiming for a bronze.

Olympians dream of gold, but the fans working to create a Harry Kalas statue are aiming for a bronze.

A bit of fund-raising is needed first.

But a larger-than-life Harry the K statue already is in clay.

It's in the Vermont studio of sculptor Lawrence J. Nowlan, who's been working full-time since Thanksgiving to get his vision of the beloved ex-broadcaster into final form.

The hope is to present the Phillies with a statue that fans can pose with at Citizens Bank Park, said Nowlan, 45, a Merion-raised, Archbishop Carroll grad and lifelong Phillies fan.

The club seems intrigued.

"We have been made aware of the Harry Kalas memorial statue project, we look forward to seeing the final product, and we're certainly willing to consider accepting it for placement at the ballpark," said Mike Stiles, senior vice president for administration and operations.

The fan-fueled project grew from a Facebook petition into a nonprofit, Dear Harry Inc., and a Web site, www.harrykalasstatue.com, with the help of Norristown attorney Greg Veith, a pal of Nowlan's since grammar school in Overbrook, and another friend, Todd Palmer, owner of the Virtual Farm Creative ad agency in Phoenixville.

Nowlan first created a 20-inch clay model of a jacket-wearing, cross-legged Kalas casually leaning on a bat. That was cast in plaster, and then Chester foundry Laran Bronze used a high-tech process to carve a 7-foot-high replica out of foam.

The surface was reduced in depth so the whole thing could be covered with clay, then resculpted from head to shoes, Nowlan explained.

Then molds will be painstakingly made so that shape can be cast in bronze - if enough money is raised.

"That is the most expensive part coming up," Nowlan said. "That's labor intensive. That takes numerous people two months, full time."

So far, donations have brought in about $25,000 of the $80,000 needed, Nowlan said.

Fans can give $10 just by texting "HARRY" to 20222. Credit cards and Pay Pal are also accepted at www.harrykalasstatue.com, and checks can be sent to Dear Harry Incorporated, 416 Sawmill Court, Norristown, PA 19401.

Nowlan hopes a major-league angel might step forward, too.

"We're about a third of the way there, so a corporate sponsor or two could really hit the ball out of the park right now," he said.

As for asking the Phillies, "it's sort of like asking your mom to pay for half of her Christmas present," he said.

The project might even refurbish the national image of local fans.

"This should be a national story, of how Philadelphia fans, continually berated for their outlandish behavior, have done something no other fans anywhere have ever done, and that's memorialize one of their own in bronze and gift it to their professional organization."

"As far as I know it's unprecedented," Nowlan said.

"This is the definition of grassroots, simply for the love and gratitude of having a guy like Harry Kalas fill our heads with wonderful baseball speak."