Horton Hears a Who (in a Park, Soon)

By Stephen M. Silverman

08/02/2001 at 06:06 PM EDT

The Cat in the Hat and his extended family, including Horton, Yertle the Turtle and the Lorax, are scheduled to adorn the Seuss Heritage Park and National Memorial, which is planned for the downtown Quadrangle in Springfield, Mass., Geisel's birthplace, city fathers there have announced. (Whether or not they announced it in rhyme was not reported.) Opening date for this shrine to all things Seussical: June 1, 2002, if all goes according to plan. The Associated Press reports that A.R.T. Research Enterprises, a Lancaster foundry, is making some of the larger bronze statues in the 30-piece collection, including the 14-foot Horton, a nearly 12-foot Thidwick the Moose and a 7-foot-tall Cat in the Hat. The beloved author Dr. Seuss, whose real name was Theodore Geisel, died in 1991 at the age of 87. His stepdaughter, Lark Diamond-Cates, is the designer of the sculptures.