CARROLL – The Old Man of the Mountain, the beloved Granite State icon that crashed into Franconia Notch nearly four years ago, got a big boost yesterday afternoon in the effort to memorialize him.

A $4.5 million fundraising campaign to remember the visage that looked over the notch and New Hampshire for a millennium kicked off with a $250,000 donation from owners of the Mount Washington Hotel to the Old Man Legacy fund.

"It is no small task to replicate what was once God-given," said resort President Pat Corso. "No doubt this project has implications beyond restoring an icon to New Hampshire."

"Paying homage to the memory of the icon, Corso said, "will improve the health and tourism in the North Country."

"The campaign to raise money for the memorial project got under way in the North Country, where many have felt not only an emotional loss of the Great Stone Face in their regular travels through the notch, but an economic one, as well.

After a nationwide competition to select a design befitting the symbol of an entire state, the Old Man of the Mountain Task Force selected the vision of Massachusetts sculptor Shelly Bradbury and designer Ron Magers.

Their five granite monoliths, representing the five major pieces that formed the countenance of the Old Man, will be arranged so that when viewers are lined up in a certain spot, the stones will form the face.

The sculpture will be a part of a plan to revitalize Franconia Notch, where millions came to gaze at the natural rock formation. The plan includes a granite gateway dedicated to the generations of people who worked to save the Old Man and a pathway to Profile Lake that will have interpretative information about the importance and the great affection many had before the fall on May 3, 2003.

And along a southbound portion of the Franconia Notch Parkway, where the Old Man could first be seen by travelers, the five great stones will line up for them as they continue their journeys.

For frequent notch travelers, the absence of the Old Man continues to be felt, when gazes peer to the empty cliff and there is excitement and anticipation to see the profile come back in some form.

"For those of us who spent a lifetime looking at the Old Man ... now its going to be back for a split second" and can be seen on those southern drives, said Barbara Ashley, Littleton Area Chamber of Commerce executive director.

Jay Edwards, campaign chairman for the Legacy fund, said the donation by the Mount Washington Hotel "sets the pace" as the effort gets under way.

About $800,000 has been pledged already toward the project.

Donations can be made to the Old Man Legacy Fund, P.O. Box 375, Concord, NH 03301 or online at www.oldmanofthemountainlegacyfund.org