The Kokomo Tribune from Kokomo, Indiana • Page 7

Sunday, May 18, 1980 Kofcomo (Ind.) Tribun. 7 Jina.) iriDUfW Pyramid to be part of limestone tourism center in Indiana BEDFORD, Ind. (AP) Down the winding road from Nccdmore on 20 acres of dark red earth, Merle Edington Is borrowing a design from the phnroahs of ancient Egypt for a monument to the wonders of Indiana limestone. "I'm getting more advice on how to build this pyramid," said Edington, the portly ex-Marine who heads the Bedford Chamber of Commerce. "Really, I don't care how they built the first pyramids or why they built them." The pyramid, which will be one- fifth the size of the great pyramid of Cheops, is only a part of Edington's vision for a limestone tourism center in the rolling hills of southern Indiana.

But it is by far the biggest drawing card. "Everybody's enthused about the pyramid," said Edington. Edington is part of the reason for that enthusiasm. As chairman of the board of Bedford Industrial Development Foundation, he finagled a $500,000 grant from the federal government's Economic Development Administration to finance the tourism center that he says will bring millions of dollars in revenue to the area each year. Indiana Limestone Co.

donated the land and along with Elliott Stone Co. contributed thousands of tons of cast-off limestone that will build the pyramid, a 600-foot-long model of the Great Wall of China, the administration building and almost everything else to be constructed on the site. The labor is being provided by Indiana Laborers Training Institute in Oolitic. A year ago, the pyramid's cornerstone was set in the field. U.S.

Sen. Birch Bayh, was down for the ceremony. Edington tried to persuade Egyptian President Anwar Sadat to attend, but he was busy. "But that's still not out of the picture," Edington said of Sadat's visit. The project is expected to be completed by late 1982.

The pyramid has not yet begun to take shape, although the pit has been dug and of the foundation has been laid. But why a pyramid? "It just seemed to come naturally that you would stack the stone that way," Edington said. The red clay, wet from recent rains, sucked at Edington's shoes as he trudged toward the quarry pits. Gesturing toward a triangular pile of discarded limestone boulders, he said, "That stack of stone has probably been sitting there for 75 to 100 years. It was piled up carelessly, but look at Its shape.

It looks like a pyramid. "Turn the hourglass upside down and watch the sand form. It comes out In a cone. A pyramid Is nothing more than a squared-off cone." When It's finished, the pyramid will measure 151 feet square and 96 feet high. It will have an observation deck at the cap to allow people "to see the panorama of the southern Indiana hills." Tourists will be able to climb stairs to the observation deck and Edington is also looking into the possibility of getting a chair-lift similar to those used at the southern Indiana ski resorts down the road.

"If we have a couple more warm winters In Indiana, I think we might could get a chair-lift real cheap," he said with a chuckle. Edington said he doesn't pay attention to most of the advice he gets about the mystical elements of building a pyramid. "But we will hold to one of the kooky ideas. This line out from the pyramid north to the museum," he said, tracing the course on his blueprints, "will align north with the star Polaris. That's the only kooky thing I'm going to allow." There's a lot of stone In Edlng- ton's family tree.

His father, his uncles, his grandfathers and his great grandfather worked in the stone mills. But Edington, who was a management consultant before he came to the chamber of commerce 11 years ago, has never cut limestone for a living. "Nope. I'm going to memorialize it," he said solemnly. Somewhere, in every state in the nation, there's a structure built of Indiana limestone, Edington said.

In fact, some of the nation's most famous buildings were made out of the pale grey stone. Spreading his blueprints on his desk, Edington pointed to a black hole near the pyramid site. "See tht hole here? That's where the Empire State Building came from. And here's where the Pentagon came from. I think the Department of Commerce came from over there." Quite a bit of Indiana limestone is in Washington's buildings.

"The only thing we send more of from Indiana to Washington than limestone is money," he said. Not everyone shares Edington's enthusiasm for the project. "I've had a woman call me and say 'My son's been laid off and you're spending half a million dollars In federal money on a pyramid," he said. "It wouldn't last five minutes to buy food stamps. This will create jobs.

This will bring over two million people in here to see It. The minimum economic Impact in the county has to be no less than $16 million in a season." Edington's office bears the imprint of his labor of love. Three small stone pyramids rest on his desk and an Egyptian statue sits on a nearby table. Behind his chair hangs an artist's rendering of what the project is supposed to look like when it's finished. Occasionally, the magnitude of the project gets to him and he shakes his head.

"The pharoahs didn't have to worry about OSHA and the Department of Labor." Need 452-5688 CRISIS HOTLINE Merle Edington describes plans for pyramid (AP photo) Anthrops Reminds You Father's Day is Sunday June 15th To Help You We're Giving Away FREE GIFT CERTIFICATES To anyone who makes a purchase of $25.00 or more in either the Women's Store or the Young Fashions Store on Monday May 19th 10 AM 5:30 PM Downtown Kokomo on the Square From Anthrop's Young Menswear In the amount of For a gift of your selection Dollars at Anthrops Forest Park Apparel Forest Park Shopping Center 2130 West Sycamore Street Kokomo, Indiana 46901 Redeemable In The Young Menswear Store Only! Sale Msde. Excluded The Purchase May Include Sale Msde. Cash or Charge! OPEN AN ANTHROP'S STORE ACCOUNT TODAY! Forest Parking Shopping Center 2130 W. Sycamore First! with the most. First National was first to offer 24-hour Plusmachines and we still have the most.

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