Beckley approves contract for Bill Withers statue

The city of Beckley is one step closer to installing a statue of Raleigh County native and musical legend Bill Withers in its downtown.

During a Tuesday meeting of the Beckley Common Council, the council approved a $170,000 contract with Frederick Hightower to craft and deliver the Bill Withers statue.

According to the contract, payments will be made in three installments of $56,666.67.

The first installment payment is for all the related creation expenses of the Bill Withers statue.

The second payment covers all the foundry expenses associated with converting Hightower’s clay sculpture of Bill Withers into a bronze statue.

The final payment is for the completion and delivery of the statue.

The contract does not include the cost associated with the statue’s installation.

The statue will be located in the Beckley Intermodal Gateway Plaza.

Various organizations throughout the city have been raising funds for the Bill Withers statue since 2021.

At a June meeting, the Beckley Council approved allocating $30,000 to the statue funds to help it reach its final goal of $170,000.

Jill Moorefield of Beckley Events said the city hopes to have the statue installed by fall.

Hightower, the artist responsible for the Bill Withers statue, is already well known for his statues of prominent West Virginians.

He designed the statue of NASA mathematician and state native Katherine Johnson at West Virginia State University as well as that of Marshall University basketball legend Hal Greer, which was unveiled at the Huntington campus.

During an interview with Hightower in 2022, he said he spoke and consulted with Withers’ widow, Marcia, while crafting the sculpture.

“Marcia Withers has been a tremendous advocate to putting this statue together,” Hightower said. “She has been a tremendous encouragement and I’ve been able to talk to her personally and she’s shared with us some of the different things that she wanted. She was pleased with the rendition of the statue that I’ve put together, so I think that’s a real good thing also.”

According to photos provided by Hightower, the sculpture depicts Bill Withers playing a guitar while seated and smiling.