Schaumburg may accept donation to sculpture park

Schaumburg trustees Tuesday will vote on the acceptance of a donated sculpture of the revered Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar to an area of the village's sculpture park.

The proposed donation by the Tamil-American cultural organization Chicago Tamil Sangam would also include reimbursement of the estimated $7,500 installation cost.

The organization offers classes to members of the local Tamil community - an ethnic group native to southern India and Sri Lanka - at both Schaumburg and Conant high schools.

Though the writings of Thiruvalluvar have been deeply respected and influential in Tamil culture for centuries, the exact years in which he lived are uncertain.

Representatives of Chicago Tamil Sangam could not be reached for comment Friday.

The likely location for the sculpture would be along a stretch of bike path at the southern end of Schaumburg's municipal grounds.

The sculpture, which is 4½ feet tall and has a base 4½ feet wide, would be installed in August in conjunction with a restoration of that bike path.

An additional concrete base similar to others in the village's sculpture park would be created to exhibit the donated work.

Village officials who would know about the frequency of new additions and outside donations to Schaumburg's sculpture park were not available Friday.

But according to the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design that initiated the park, most of the sculptures there were bought and placed during the late 1990s.