Celoron Mayor Scott Schrecengost with Christopher D’Elia, producer of the Comedy Central program @Midnight. (Image via twitter.com/DEliaChrisDElia)
JAMESTOWN – The statue of Lucille Ball that’s garnered national and international attention in recent weeks may soon have a new home.
According to an article by Gavin Paternitti in Tuesday’s Jamestown Post-Journal, producers for the Comedy Central TV show @Midnight have expressed an interest in owning the statue.
The report says that representatives of the show were at the Celoron village board meeting on Monday and said they would help the village raise money for a new statue in exchange for the current statue being donated to the show’s studio in Los Angeles.
According to the show’s host Chris Hardwick, the Comedy Central program is recorded in the same studio that was home to I Love Lucy. The host has even started a social media campaign to raise awareness of the statue, using the hashtag #BringLucyHome.
While the board considers the offer, the PJ article also states that village officials have made the decision to commission a brand new statue through the local fundraising effort.
Last week, Celoron Mayor Scott Schregengost had initially said that the village was planning to raise money in order to “fix” the current statue – unless enough money was raised to make an entirely new one. But now it appears a new statue will be made and the original, created by Dave Poulin, will remain unchanged – although where it’s final home will be remains up in the air for the time being.
Anyone wishing to donate to the village’s statue fund can do so by making a donation to the village, Five Star Bank in Lakewood, or online via Kickstarter.com.
What a HUGE mistake it will be for Celoron/Jamestown if they unload the Lucy statue for an “upgrade”. Ironically, the statue is a “must see” now for Lucy fans who come to the area. I was in Europe when the news broke on the statue and was shocked to be reading the newsflash from Celoron, NY while overseas! A replacement statue will be big news for the first week or two but will never have the draw of the statue we have now. KEEP THE STATUE CELORON AND THEY WILL COME!!
Come to Celoron and then what?
It would be wrong to move or change the statue of Lucy now, because she has now made more History of her self and her home town in Celoron, NY., world wide.
Lucy’s Statue has now been standing there for years, and like her real life style to be a Star, it took her Statue time also to make Fame. So everyone come and see Lucy, and I Love Lucy, Thanks.
Why would you move or replace something that has made national and world news. The Statue is now a tourist attraction and would bring money to the area .That statue should stay here where it belongs no matter what it looks like , its not the point….. This could boost the economy of the area.