LEHI — George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are gazing across I-15.
Soon to join the two 11 1/2-foot presidents in a slightly more jovial replica of Mount Rushmore National Memorial will be a carefree Thomas Jefferson and a merry Theodore Roosevelt.
"It would be silly to have stoic-faced presidents at a fun park," said Laura Lee Bradshaw, who is sculpting the replica on the side of a roller coaster in Lehi. It is part of an American-themed family fun center scheduled to open in May 2008. "We're putting little smiles on their faces."
All of the attractions at Liberty Land — including a Liberty Bell that rings when a miniature golfer whacks a hole-in-one — will have a red-white-and-blue twist.
Lady Liberty will reign over a pool of bumper boats. A swinging boat ride is designed to resemble Washington's famous trip across the Delaware River during the Revolutionary War. Golfers will maneuver balls through a replica of the Lincoln Memorial.
Even the food will be patriotic.
"You have to have apple pie and hot dogs," said Bradshaw, who lives in Highland. "It's only American."
With a low-key roller coaster, an old-fashioned carousel and two small trains, Liberty Land, 1320 N. 300 West, is designed to become a traditional family hangout where "kids can look forward to going when they get straight A's," said Jerry Bradshaw, Laura Lee's husband.
So far, the park's construction has been as family-oriented as Liberty Land promises to be.
Laura Lee Bradshaw, who has chiseled sculptures for amusement parks and hotels all over the country, spends her mornings carving miniature monuments out of blocks of foam with a chain saw. Jerry Bradshaw, a landscape architect by trade, spends his working out the logistics of the park's layout.
It's not uncommon to find a number of the couple's five children, who range in age from 7 to 16, working at the construction site on Saturday mornings.
"I couldn't hire anyone who would care as much about this park as we do," Jerry Bradshaw said. "Our vision has just run away with us."
The couple decided to build the fun center because they wanted to make history fun for children, he said. At every hole in each of two planned miniature golf courses, the couple means to post historic tidbits.
"We would not have built a fun center if we didn't care so much about the theme of America and patriotism," Jerry Bradshaw said. "You can see our Mount Rushmore from the freeway, and that's inspiring. I wouldn't feel as good about building a big rocket monster on the side of the road."
E-mail: estuart@desnews.com