Jackie Robinson rebuilt in bronze in Colorado after statue stolen from Kansas park

LOVELAND, Colo. (AP) — As he coated a cast of Jackie Robinson with wax, metalworker Alex Haines considered the added significance of a project that will soon give the city of Wichita, Kansas, a statue of Bronze replacement for the baseball icon after thieves brazenly destroyed the original.

“A lot of sculptures come through here,” said Haines of the Art Castings studio in Loveland, Colo., where the original statue was cast. “Some are a little more important than others. And this is certainly one of them.

It all started in January, when thieves cut the original statue off at the ankles, leaving behind only Robinson’s cleats at Wichita’s McAdams Park. About 600 children play there in a youth baseball league called League 42. It is named for Robinson’s uniform number with the Brooklyn Dodgers, with whom he broke the major league color barrier in 1947.

Word spread widely and a national outpouring of donations followed, allowing Wichita to quickly order a replacement.

“There’s been a lot of serendipity when it comes to League 42 throughout our existence,” said Bob Lutz, executive director of the nonprofit Little League that commissioned the statue. “It’s almost like someone is watching over us. And certainly, in that regard, we feel like… there was a guardian angel making sure that we could make this statue again.

As news of the theft spread, the nonprofit was flooded with donations estimated at $450,000 to $500,000. This includes a $100,000 donation from Major League Baseball, which will cover the $45,000 cost of replacing the statue and other improvements, including landscaping and adding decorative bollards that will prevent people from drive too close to the statue.

The rest of the money raised will be used to improve some of the nonprofit’s programs and facilities. Last year, the group opened the Leslie Rudd Learning Center, which includes an indoor baseball facility and learning lab. There might even be enough money to add artificial turf and more lighting, Lutz said.

Another blessing for Lutz is that the replacement will look exactly like the original, created by his friend the artist John Parsons before his death in 2022 at the age of 67. This is possible because the original mold was still viable.

“If it wasn’t, I don’t know if I would feel as good about all of this,” Lutz said.

The situation appeared dire five days after the theft, when firefighters discovered the burned remains of his statue while responding to a trash fire at another park about seven miles from the scene of the theft.

One man pleaded guilty and the investigation continues into a crime that police say was not motivated by racial hatred but by a plan to sell the bronze for scrap.

It was a stupid plan, said Tony Workman, owner of Art Castings of Colorado. The city where the company is located, about 50 miles north of Denver, is well known for its abundance of sculptors and artists.

“The problem is you can’t light a fire hot enough in a dumpster to melt the metal,” Workman said. “All you’re going to do is burn the sculpture.” So you can always tell what it was.

Beyond the statue’s reconstruction, the bronze cleats cut from the original statue found a new home last month at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.

This is a suitable place. Robinson played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues before joining the Brooklyn Dodgers, paving the way for generations of black American baseball players. He is considered not only a sports legend but also a civil rights icon. Robinson died in 1972.

“The outpouring of support people have received as a result of this reminds us that light does indeed come out of darkness,” said Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

At the museum, the cleats are part of an exhibit that also includes a plaque riddled with gunshots that was erected outside Robinson’s birthplace near Cairo, Georgia.

“It renews our spirit and our trust in people, because sometimes people do despicable things, and it makes us want to give up on people,” Kendrick said. “But you know you can’t give up on people, even if sometimes you want to.”

Recently, Emilio Estevez, a financial services worker from Miami, stopped to examine the cleats. He described Robinson as an inspiration – both because of his athleticism and his ability to endure jeers while still integrating the sport.

“We can all learn from this,” he said.

And the thieves couldn’t take it away, Estevez said.

“He’s always on all of our minds. It’s still very present, like here at the museum, very present,” he said.

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Hollingsworth reported from Mission, Kansas.