Grinch statue unveiled at Naper Boulevard Library
By Susan Frick Carlman scarlman@stmedianetwork.com October 9, 2012 6:32PM
After the Naper Boulevard Library unveiled the Grinch and his dog Max sculpture on Tuesday, October 9, 2012 in Naperville, 6-year-old Alexis Rose and her 3-year-old sister Caylee get their photo taken next to the statue. | Steven Buyansky~Sun-Times Media
Updated: November 11, 2012 6:09AM
In the end, he couldn’t keep Christmas from coming. It came. It came just the same.
The Grinch probably couldn’t have kept the people from coming out to welcome him to the Naper Boulevard Library, either.
About 80 of them, the tall and the small, turned out Tuesday afternoon to do just that.
The yuletide curmudgeon, rendered in bronze, has settled in alongside the entrance to the southeast Naperville facility, completing a triple crown of characters inspired by the work of the late Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, and made possible by the Century Walk Corp.
The sculpture is the third to grace a Naperville library entry way: the Nichols branch is home to “The Cat in the Hat,” while the 95th Street location has a “Green Eggs and Ham” theme.
The Grinch is the 42nd piece generated by the Century Walk since the sprawling public art initiative was launched in 1996.
“This will be the third, and probably as revered as the others,” said Century Walk President Brand Bobosky, who conducted the unveiling proceedings.
Mayor A. George Pradel hailed the city’s newest example of art for all.
“It’s a monument to the city as well as the library,” he said.
The $50,000 project, paid for with Special Events and Cultural Amenities funds provided by the city of Naperville, features the famed would-be villain sporting a semi-nasty sneer, the hapless dog Max gazing up wearing an expression of trepidation. Both are attired in the Santa-and-reindeer getups featured in “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” Seuss’ beloved account of the failed attempt to steal Christmas from the good folks of Whoville.
It’s a decent read, but it’s not the author’s best work, according to the Wood kids. The trio — Amaia, 6; Emerson, 4; and Garazi, 2 — are library regulars who walk over with their mom Ana from their home a block away.
Amaia’s favorite Seuss book is “If I Could Name 50 Trees,” while Emerson favors “Ten Apples Up On Top!” For Garazi’s money, you can’t beat “Put Me in the Zoo.”
“They know them all,” Ana said.
And they know an antagonist when they see one.
“He’s a bad guy!” Emerson opined of the Grinch, putting on his best Grinch-y grimace.
Julie Rothenfluh, the library’s deputy director, called the newest sculpture a “hat trick” and said staff members hear comments daily about the existing statues at the other two branches.
“It does mean a lot to kids, it’s a great tie to literature,” she said. “And we’re happy to be a part of that.”
