Almost a month after announcing they surpassed their financial goals, leaders of the Seattle (Alki) Statue of Liberty Plaza Project gathered supporters for a celebration last night at Pegasus. And news was made, particularly co-chairs Paul and Libby Carr revealing the donation total is now well past what was announced in mid-January:

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That wasn’t all the news:

As we reported here last month, once the fundraising was over, the city came up with a preliminary timeline – and it stretched out a lot longer than what the Carrs had hoped, as they once envisioned a dedication on the Fourth of July. At last night’s party, Colleen Browne from the Seattle Parks Department said that timeline hasn’t changed, but still might:

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However, Mike Boyle — announced last night as planner for a gala regional celebration once the plaza is complete — says he’s got a different date in mind:

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9/11, of course, has historic significance for the Alki Statue of Liberty, dating back to the vigils of 2001, moving forward to the unveiling of the recast statue on 9/11/07 (WSB coverage here). Can the timeline move up? The picture should become clearer within a few months. Meantime, the Plaza Project expects to keep selling bricks a while longer — more info on their website — and is also talking about organizing a fundraiser at the Admiral Theater, showing Ken Burns’ Statue of Liberty documentary. No date set yet. They say the extra fundraising cushion is in case project costs go over, as well as to cover some added features such as bench backs; anything left over when all is said, done, and built will go to the organization that helped with fundraising and coordination, Urban Sparks, which would in turn spend the money on other local neighborhood projects. (US boss Jack Tomkinson was in attendance last night, as were Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis, City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, City Parks Superintendent Tim Gallagher, and Department of Neighborhoods director Stella Chao.)