The ongoing saga of the horrific Lucille Ball statue in Celoron, New York, the village where the Hollywood icon was born, took another weird turn today. While the original artist has offered to fix the statue for free, the mayor doesn’t want to have anything to do with him.
Although the awful statue has been standing since 2009, it wasn’t until this month, when a Yahoo News report about a Facebook page went viral, that it got national attention. The statue looks nothing like the I Love Lucy star and the creator of the “We Love Lucy! Get Rid of this Statue” wants it completely replaced.
Initially, Celoron mayor Scott Schrecengost said that the town couldn’t afford to get original artist Dave Poulin to fix it and even other sculptors were asking too much. But on Monday, Poulin sent a letter to the Hollywood Reporter, apologizing for his monstrosity and offering to fix it for free.
Sounds like a happy ending right? Wrong. Schrecengost told Buffalo News that he doesn’t want to work with Poulin now and has already hired a new artist, whose name he did not reveal. “I’m ready to move on,” the mayor said.
Schrecengost even held a press conference today and called for donations to get the statue fixed. Village trustee Dick Kogut said that he would even donate six months of his village paycheck.
The Lucy fan who created the Facebook page added another post today, noting that he created the page three years ago and has been stunned by the response. While he said that Poulin’s offer was a “step in the right direction,” he said he didn’t think that Poulin is the right person to make another statue. The fan who has created the page has remained anonymous and stressed to fans that he has absolutely nothing against Poulin.
The fan is now pushing for a statue in Jamestown, the nearby town where the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Museum & Center stands.