Waterfront Development is currently in the early construction phases of what will surely become a Kentucky landmark, a memorial to Abraham Lincoln that teaches about his connections to Kentucky and about how, as a young man, he developed his abhorance of slavery while standing on the banks of the Ohio River in Louisville. The memorial will include a two-times life size statue of Lincoln seated on a rock and looking out over the Ohio River. Four bas reliefs (stone sculpture made by chipping away from a flat surface to make a picture that stands out) will tell of four different stages of Lincoln's life and experiences in Kentucky.

Nationally renowned Louisville artist Ed Hamilton is sculpting both the Lincoln statue and the bas reliefs. The Lincoln Memorial at Waterfront Park will be dedicated on June 4, 2009.

The memorial site (click drawing for a printable version) will include a shaded amphitheater with granite seating walls that have Lincoln quotes engraved on the face.

The slavery bas relief represents the moment in time when Lincoln, standing o the shore of the Ohio River, watched slaves being loaded and unloaded from boat at the Louisville wharf. Later in his life, Lincoln wrote of this moment to his friend, Joshua Speed, saying ". . . that sight was a continual torment to me . . ." In this powerful artwork, artist Ed Hamilton has captured the horror and degradation of slavery.

The artist in his Louisville studio . . . Ed Hamilton poses with the full-sized Lincoln sculpture. Ed has portrayed the young Lincoln as a very approachable figure.