2017 Day Trip: St. Charles / If I Could But Fly

If I Could But Fly – by Bob and Jo Wilfong

Dedicated: 2014.

Location: Bob Leonard Walkway

6 foot / Bronze

The sculpture honors the walkway’s namesake, who was a pilot and former foundation chairman who spearheaded the riverfront improvement project before he died in 2007.

If I Could But Fly sculpture was brought to St. Charles by the River Corridor Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to making the riverfront a desirable destination for everyone through community collaboration.

The six- foot tall sculpture “If I Could But Fly” is the first work of art that the foundation added to the downtown riverfront.

Improving the Bob Leonard Walkway has been an ongoing project since the foundation completed its construction, along with and a bike and pedestrian path, in 2010. The project connected the downtown to Mt. St. Mary’s Park and included shoreline stabilization utilizing large, stacked stones to create step walls.

On the west bank south of Main Street, the foundation recently completed enhancements to the Bob Leonard Walkway, installing bench seating, planters, trash receptacles and landscaping. Volunteers from the Pottawatomie Garden Club have helped maintain native plantings along older areas of the walkway.