PIERRE (AP) - Fundraising for the Trail of Governors project in Pierre has hit the halfway mark.
The project eventually will honor with statues all 31 people who have served as governor of South Dakota. The statues cost about $70,000 apiece, for a total of about $2.2 million.
The Trail of Governors Foundation says fundraising reached about $1.1 million just before the new year, the Capital Journal reported.
No taxpayer money is involved. All of the funding comes from private donations, business sponsorships and family members of governors.
Three governor statues have been placed in downtown Pierre or near the state Capitol every year since 2012, for a total of 12 statues.
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Statues added last year were of South Dakota's fourth governor, Charles Herreid; its 18th governor, George T. Mickelson; and its 25th governor, Richard Kneip. Statues that will be completed this year are Warren Green, the 13th governor, Nils Boe, the 23rd, and Mike Rounds, the 31st. Those statues will mark the halfway point of the project.
"We're getting to where people actually come to town to see them now, which is great for Pierre," said Leroy Foster, one of the project organizers.
