CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Organizers in Roger Ebert’s hometown announced plans Tuesday to try to raise $125,000 to build a life-size bronze statue of the late famed film critic.
The statue would go in front of Champaign’s Virginia Theatre, which has hosted the Ebertfest film festival for 15 years. Ebert, a Pulitzer Prize-winning movie reviewer and television personality, grew up in neighbouring Urbana and attended the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.