A tribute to baseball legend Jackie Robinson was destroyed. A Loveland foundry is recreating it

By In The NoCo,

Published May 30, 2024 at 5:35 AM MDT

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A worker holding a small hook is working on the outside of a wax mold. You can see the worker's gloved fingers touching a script "s" on the mold. The mold is of the chest of person, the front of a baseball uniform that reads "Dodgers" in script. — An employee at Art Castings of Colorado touches up a wax mold of Jackie Robinson's jersey in Loveland, Colo. on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. The original statue was cut off at the ankles and stolen from a park in Wichita, Kansas in January. The Colorado foundry cast that sculpture in 2019 and, luckily, still had the original plaster and rubber molds.

It was a shocking crime.

In January, thieves in Wichita, Kansas allegedly stole and , the trailblazing baseball player and civil rights hero. Only the statue's bronze shoes were left behind. The statue had stood near ballfields used by League 42 鈥� a youth baseball league named after the number on Robinson鈥檚 uniform.

暗黑爆料 of the crime generated an outpouring of support, including more than half a million dollars in donations to replace the statue. And the work to create the new statue is happening in Loveland.

, which was started in 1972, specializes in bronze sculptures. The company worked on the original Jackie Robinson statue. Now, the staff at the foundry is creating the replacement, which League 42 plans to dedicate later this year.

Art Castings owner Tony Workman joined host Erin O'Toole to share what makes the statue so special.

A man wearing eyeglasses and dressed in a blue collared work shirt holds a soldering iron against the top of a bronze bust. The bust is the head and shoulders of baseball player Jackie Robinson, face up. The bronze mold is tipped sideways and the worker is working at the top of the ballcap on Robinson's head. — David Hobbs, an employee at Art Castings of Colorado, touches up a wax mold of Jackie Robinson's head in Loveland, Colo. on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. The original statue was cut off at the ankles and stolen from a park in Wichita, Kansas in January. The Colorado foundry cast that sculpture in 2019 and, luckily, still had the original plaster and rubber molds. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)