A photo of the Old Man of the Mountain, taken previous to restoration efforts which began in 1957.





New Jersey's Francis Treves believes the Old Man of the Mountain, who died quietly in his sleep five years ago, deserves a tribute fit for a king.

He compares our state symbol to Mount Rushmore and the Statue of Liberty, a cash cow that tourists traveled hundreds, even thousands, of miles to see.

And Treves, an architect, says he has the blueprint for a memorial that will blow you away. He also has the credentials to back up his words, an award-winning idea made of glass that glistens and glows and makes you wonder if we're heading in the right direction. Meanwhile, fundraising for the state-approved Old Man monument is lagging behind the schedule that officials hoped to meet over a year ago.

Treves's idea would take even more time and money to become reality, but he has a grand vision for what he hopes will once again be a grand attraction.

"It has to be sort of a destination," Treves said by phone this week from Princeton, N.J. "People say, 'I want to go see the Grand Canyon. It's so immense, how do I go, where do I go, do I rent a car and go to the edge?'

"You can't put your finger entirely on the Old Man, but you can't generate the kind of interest in going to the North Country without something that will have a little appeal."

Who is this Treves guy? Why does an architect from Jersey care about what we're doing to honor the Old Man, that grand, hard-nosed symbol who guarded Franconia Notch with a soothing sense of power for 10,000 years?

Because Treves has a summer home in New London. And because he sees the site of the late Old Man as a chance to create a bold, ambitious project that, while far costlier than the $4.8 million price tag we have for a memorial now, will attract more people here than King Kong in midtown Manhattan.

"These are great monuments," Treves said. "They come from great ideas and tourism. The bottom line is New Hampshire needs to increase its tourism and needs to find something grand enough that will bring people back from around the country to New Hampshire, with the Old Man being the vortex."

The Old Man collapsed sometime after midnight on May 3, 2003. The elements had finally caught up to the poor guy, who was etched in so many kids' minds after decades of family outings.

Engineers at the time said a replacement on Cannon Mountain, 1,200 feet above Profile Lake, wasn't feasible. Besides, how do you replace a natural wonder such as this?

So last year, an independent jury of state artists and residents chose a series of visual landscapes from among 40 finalists who entered designs hoping to take the Old Man's place.

The winning design is a gateway dedicated to the Old Man's caretakers; a walking path along the site; and platforms to view re-creations of the profile.

The quarter-mile pathway will lead from the existing museum, near the base of Cannon Mountain, to a viewing platform that overlooks five massive granite stones. When viewed from there, the stones, the largest of which is 20 feet tall and weighs 180 tons, will line up to create the illusion of the old friend we all miss.

A public-private partnership between the nonprofit Legacy Fund and the New Hampshire Department of Parks and Recreation needs to raise $4.8 million for the project.

Former fund chairwoman Maura Weston stepped down two months ago after giving birth. She said 14 months ago, when the winner was picked, that she hoped to have the project finished by the fifth anniversary of the Old Man's death.