Nittany Lion Shrine ‘Closing’ for Two Days
September 17, 2009
If you need to get a photo of yourself or your loved ones at the Nittany Lion Shrine, better get it done before next Tuesday, Sept. 22. Access to the shrine will be closed—or, as Penn State Live puts it, the shrine will “be unable to receive guests” for two days as it is digitally scanned.
The scan will result in a digital replica of the lion, and if it’s ever damaged, it can be rebuilt. The current plan in case of damage is to use a mold that was created in 1995 (when the shrine was closed for six weeks), but cracks and time have limited that mold’s usefulness. This scan should be useful for decades.
The process is the same one that’s been used on famous landmarks such as the Sphinx and Michelangelo’s David. So the Nittany Lion Shrine is going to be among some pretty elite company!
Penn State says the work should be done by Thursday, when football fans begin coming to campus. We’ll be at the shrine to monitor progress next week, and you can look for updates on the blog and in the November/December issue of The Penn Stater.
Lori Shontz, senior editor
Entry Filed under: Penn State traditions, University Park campus. Tags: digital scanning, Michelangelo's David, Nittany Lion Shrine, the Sphinx.
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1. Senior Year | Penn State | September 17, 2009 at 2:11 pm
[...] Here’s an interesting post from Lori Shontz, Senior Editor of The Penn Stater magazine, about the Nittany Lion Shrine “closing” for a few days next week so it can be digitally scanned. The Nittany Lion Shrine was a gift from the Class of 1940 and narrowly beat out an undergraduate scholarship by a 242-255 margin. [...]
2. Nittany Lion Shrine: Ready for Its Closeup « The Penn Stater | September 24, 2009 at 6:49 pm
[...] of course I made it a point to stop by this week as the shrine underwent digital 3D scanning, which will enable it to be rebuilt or repaired in the event of severe [...]