Presidents Park

For the park with a similar name in Washington, D.C., see President's Park.

Presidents Park

Presidents Park Presidents Park was located in Southeastern Virginia Presidents Park Presidents Park (the United States)
Established	March 2004 (2004-03)
Dissolved	September 30, 2010 (2010-09-30)
Location	Williamsburg VA, U.S.
Coordinates	37°15′39″N 76°38′42″W
Type	Sculpture park
Collections	Busts of the first 43 presidents, spread over 10 acres (4.0 ha)

Presidents Park was a ten-acre sculpture park and associated indoor museum formerly located in Williamsburg, Virginia in the United States. It contained 18-to-20-foot (5.5 to 6.1 m) high busts of the presidents of the United States from George Washington to George W. Bush.

The statues were sculpted by Houston artist David Adickes, who was inspired as he drove past Mount Rushmore when returning from a trip to Canada. The park was opened in March 2004 by local visitor attraction entrepreneur Everette H. "Haley" Newman III, who had been slowly taking delivery of the busts since 2000.

Busts of Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon

The park had financial troubles and was closed on September 30, 2010. Creditors put the park up for auction (not including the busts) on September 28, 2012, after a foreclosure auction originally scheduled for April 26, 2012 was cancelled without explanation. By January 10, 2013, the busts had been moved to private storage at a nearby local farm in Croaker, Virginia by Howard Hankins. In 2017, National Geographic showcased a video in which Mr Hankins expresses a hope to rehabilitate the statues for a park in the future. However, many of the presidential heads sustained damage in the move and are currently in a state of disrepair due to being out in the open elements. The 400-acre Croaker farm where the 20-foot busts are located are only accessible to the public during pop-up tours the owner holds throughout the year.

Similar park near Deadwood, South Dakota

Artist David Adickes sculpted a second set of Presidential busts. They were placed on display at a similar outdoor park museum setting in Lead near Deadwood, South Dakota which was operated by the artist himself, until it too closed after financial difficulties.

Some of the South Dakota busts could still be seen in 2015 at various RV parks and hotels around the Dakotas.

• The busts of Presidents John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush are located near Mount Rushmore at the Southern Hills RV Park and Campground in Hermosa, South Dakota.
• President Abraham Lincoln's bust graces the Lincoln RV Park on U.S. 85 south of Williston, North Dakota.
• President Theodore Roosevelt's bust is stationed at the Roosevelt Inn in Watford City, North Dakota.