Roughly 14 years ago, Penn State unveiled the enhanced pedestal and landscaping for the Nittany Lion Shrine funded by the Class Gift of 2012. Stonework for the Lion’s new “perch” was provided by local master craftsman Phil Hawk, and the delicate project was managed by campus landscape architect Derek Kalp, whom the Mount Nittany Conservancy is lucky to have serving on our board of directors. The entire process was chronicled in detail in the article linked below. Derek is quoted extensively, explaining the meticulous care taken in refreshing the home of Pennsylvania’s second-most-photographed landmark (behind the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia).
As Derek Kalp and his colleagues in Penn State’s Office of Physical Plant pondered the future of the Nittany Lion shrine, the most important thing to them was that it have a setting worthy of its stature.
Seventy years, thousands of visitors, and frequent repairs had brought the University’s beloved shrine to a point where extensive changes were desperately needed to ensure its continued beauty and accessibility.
Kalp, landscape architect, and his coworkers in Campus Planning and Design considered that challenge for the better part of three years — until the University’s Class of 2012 stepped up and made a gift to improve the existing shrine and its surroundings.
The Penn State Alumni Association commissioned a short documentary film that chronicles Hawk’s work creating the Shrine’s new stone pedestal. It’s worth a watch and is sure to warm any heart that loves the name of Dear Old State. Check it out…
The Penn State News article linked above includes three additional vignettes further expanding on the Lion Shrine’s restoration. Those are embedded here for the enjoyment and convenience of our readers.
Lemont Pennsylvania inhabitant and master stone mason, Phil Hawk has worked on long list of projects, applying his talents to create waterfalls, unique decks and facades. His work is remarkable. If you have ever been to Beaver Stadium at the corner of Porter Road and Park Avenue and noticed the the beautiful Penn State sign shrouded in stone, you can begin to appreciate his work. He was contracted to refurbish probably the most iconic landmark in the minds and hearts of all Penn Staters– the Nittany Lion Shrine. Listen and watch as Hawk explains his approach to redressing this beloved Penn State landmark. Credit: C Roy Parker.
While physical plant landscape architect, Derek Kalp was overseeing the Lion Shrine remodel, crews came upon an abundance of white chips scattered at the base of the statue. Discover what those chips were as Derek Kalp explains.
Many have seen it. Austere. Stoic. Those words and others have been used to describe the Nittany Lion Shrine. If you’re a PSU graduate, you should have a picture or two of you and the Lion in an album or a hard drive somewhere, but most are taken in the daytime. When university officials placed the initial lighting around the landmark, security may have been the overriding concern– not aesthetics. See how physical plant utilized the on-campus expertise of a lighting design expert from the School of Theatre to recreate the shrine area. Credit: C Roy Parker.