Columbus Statue sailing to Peace Garden

?Four years ago (2020) , the statue of Christopher Columbus was spray-painted and its head severed by a group claiming Columbus was involved with slavery, and demanded the statue be removed from Columbus Park in the North End.

The statue was removed and placed in storage, waiting for a permanent place to be featured.

?Since the North End Knights of Columbus co-sponsored the erecting of the statue in 1979, they petition the city to take the statue and have it displayed at their construction project site for 23 affordable elderly apartments at 41 North Margin Street in the North End.

?To save the statue, a noted restoration expert was commissioned to repair it and when completed, over two years later, Ausonia Council installed the project on their property on May 16, 2023 and began seeking a permanent site for the statue.

?Knowing the statue cannot be placed at Columbus Park, the Knights, working with Fr. Michael Della Penna the Council’s Chaplain and Pastor of Saint Leonard Church, Lewis Cavagnaro and Camdele Construction, a new home for the statue was secured at the Church’s Peace Garden on Hanover Street.

?The new site is more assessable to the community and visitors.

?No official date for installation has been confirmed.