Monument of the Americas breaks ground on 12-acre religious sculpture park in Heber City

HEBER CITY — Dr. Steven Neal said it has been 30 years since he first had the vision of a sculpture garden, and he has been working on the project ever since.

On Thursday, ground was at last broken for the Monument of the Americas sculpture gardens on a hill overlooking the Heber Valley. Guests gathered at the parking lot for UVU’s Wasatch campus before taking shuttles up a dirt road to the 12-acre location where the two gardens — the Christ in America Garden and the America Covenant Garden — will be located.

During the ceremony, two sculptures for the garden — one of George Washington and another of Christ with children — were unveiled.

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Neal said he was a painter but took up sculpting as a way to master facial plastic surgery about 10 years before he envisioned the monument garden. He said he did not think his skills were good enough for the project, but he made a promise to God that he would keep working on it if God blessed his talents.

Neal worked on the sculptures on his own for a while and then was introduced to Michael Hall and Jerime Hooley, who have helped with other sculptures. Now, Neal says they have raised about $3 million to invest in the park, in addition to the donation of the land. He said creating the sculptures is expensive, with one priced at $650,000 alone, and thanked everyone at the groundbreaking who contributed to the project.

“This groundbreaking ceremony is also a great big thank you for our posterity. This is going to last way beyond our lifetimes, brothers and sisters. It is a chance to do something worthwhile,” Neal said.

Right now, he said, there are 27 statues that are being enlarged or have been enlarged and are in storage waiting for their new outdoor home to be ready. Many more are created as miniatures.

Gordon H. Smith, a former U.S. senator from Oregon and Neal’s friend, was the master of ceremonies Thursday and remarked on a spirit of anticipation, reverence and gratitude he felt.

“We stand at the threshold of a project that is more than stone and bronze, more than shapes and lines. This is the unfolding of a vision, a heavenly gift, a labor of love and a testimony born from the heart of an artist whose life has been dedicated to the master artist himself, even the Lord Jesus Christ,” Smith said.

He said the monument garden will be a collection of inspired sculptures and a witness of Christ’s love and his visit to the Americas — an event written about in the Book of Mormon.

“Dr. Neal’s hands have healed bodies in the operating room, and now they shape souls,” Smith said.

Former Utah Gov. Gary Herbert also attended the ceremony and shared an experience about meeting a veteran from another country who talked about what an honor it was to serve with an American soldier. He said people yearn for freedom and liberty, and have come to America for that reason, and he believes this 10-acre garden will honor those values.

Standing next to a statue of George Washington, Herbert spoke about how he believes the United States was created through the power of God and the U.S. Constitution was made for a people who were religious and moral.

Aaron Cheatwood, a city council member for Heber City, said he hopes visitors to the garden are inspired to live as Christ did, and he looks forward to bringing his family there.

He also shared remarks from Heber City Mayor Heidi Franco, who was unable to attend the ceremony on Thursday. She said the city is honored to be the location of the sculpture gardens and thanked Neal for his “lifetime of work and expertise” and his vision for the monuments.

“Now the entire world will see this natural beauty added to, with this magnificent and unique sculpture and gardens,” she said.