The New London, Connecticut statue of Christopher Columbus was a marble statue installed in the city from 1928 to 2020. In June, 2020 the New London City council voted to remove the statue from public land.
Statue of Christopher Columbus | |
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Subject | Christopher Columbus |
Location | New London, Connecticut, U.S. |
Coordinates | 41.35046°N 72.100998°W / 41.35046; -72.100998 |
The statue, given to the city as a gift by Italian-Americans, was unveiled on Columbus Day, October 12, 1928.[1][2] Its installation was delayed when the ship it had traveled on from Italy was seized for transporting a cargo of heroin.[3][4] The nine foot, six inch statue was sculpted in marble by the Italian artist Armand Battelli, at a cost of $7000.[1][3][5]
In 2017 a group of local citizens sought to legally and physically protect the statue from removal.[5] In June 2020 more than 6000 people signed a petition to remove the statue, and the memorial became the subject of extensive news coverage.[6] Following a successful city council vote on its proposed removal, the statue was banned from being sited on public land.[7] New London's mayor Michael Passero said that the statue had become "a lightning rod for civil discontent".[8] The statue was removed June 16, 2020 at the order of the city council.[9][10][11]