The AP reports:
Boston Mayor Tom Menino says that City Hall Plaza has been chosen as the site for a proposed statue of Celtics basketball legend Bill Russell.
Menino made the announcement Monday with the Bill Russell Legacy Committee and the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation. They said the site was chosen because of its location near the “Freedom Trail.”
Three artists chosen as finalists will present their designs to Russell and the committee in the fall.
Gary Dzen of the Boston Globe (blog) reports:
Three artists will be competing for the right to design the statute for Russell, who was one of the Celtics’ all-time great players and a widely respected civil rights activist.
The artists are Fern Cunningham, Ann Hirsch, and Antonio Tobias Mendez.
The winning design will be unveiled in spring 2012. Menino, who has pushed to relocate City Hall to South Boston, said renovations will be made to the plaza to coincide with the statue’s installation.
Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca said Russell was a role model for the young, and a mentor as well. “He always found the time to take a youngster aside,’’ he said. “He was an individual who went out of his way to work with young children.”
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