Lucille Ball may be a television icon, but the New York town of Celoron is nothing short of desperate to be free of an unsightly, drunkenly demonic-looking statue immortalizing the I Love Lucy actress, reports the Jamestown Post-Journal.
Ball once lived in Celoron, which is why local residents Mark and Jetta Wilson commissioned sculptor Dave Poulin to create the commemorative work. Unfortunately for the town, the comedy legend has since become more of a nightmare, thanks to the creepy statue.
“I think it looks like a monster. That is just my opinion,” the anonymous founder of Facebook group We Love Lucy! Get Rid of this Statue told Yahoo News of the possessed-looking piece. “When you see it at night, it is frightening.”
Since the 400-pound statue was unveiled in 2009, mayor Scott Schrecengost has spoken Poulin about reworking the leering face on multiple occasions. “He finally came back and said he wanted $8,000 to $10,000 to do it,” Schrecengost told the Post-Journal.
Other artists have quoted the town up to $5,000 to fix the portrait-gone-wrong, but Celoran is opposed to using tax-payer money on the project. Schrecengost is urging Facebook protesters to have patience: “we’re all aware that [the statue] doesn’t look like Lucy and needs to be fixed. We’re just working on getting the funds to do that.”
“We’d like to work with the original sculptor, and wish he would stand behind his work enough to step up and fix it for free,” added Schrecengost.
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