State officials notified Donley County Judge Jack Hall last week that they have approved a site location for the proposed Ten Commandments marker on the Courthouse Square.
The Texas Historical Commission approved locating the marker east of the Courthouse Annex in the second tree line from the street, placing it on the opposite side of the sidewalk from a 1976 Liberty Tree out of the main view of the 1890 Courthouse.
Backers of the marker had asked for it to be placed in front of the east face of the Courthouse in the same tree line, but the state preferred the Annex location that was proposed by Commissioner Donnie Hall and agreed to as an alternate site by the project’s supporters.
According to documents on file in the judge’s office, the Ten Commandments marker project will cost an estimated $20,000 and will be purchased locally from Wallace Monument Co., which is co-owned by Donley County Commissioner Mark White. The monument will be made of polished Georgia grey granite and will measure four feet, eight inches tall at the back, and three feet, four inches tall at the front and will be about 55 inches wide and just over 54 inches deep.
The Ten Commandments will be inscribed on a carved open Bible measuring 28 inches by 28 inches on the sloped top of the marker. Three sides of the monument will bear inscriptions that will be taken from a list of 16 historic quotations or phrases, and the fourth side will include a synopsis of the history of Clarendon.
Under the THC’s historic structure permit, supporters of the marker have until September 30, 2013, to complete the project.
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