Lucille Ball fans want ‘frightening’ statue in star’s hometown removed


By Michael Walsh
Yahoo News

They don’t love this Lucy.
Locals are not happy with this statue of Lucille Ball in Celoron, N.Y.
Lucille Ball’s hometown, just outside Jamestown in western New York, erected a life-size statue to honor the beloved actress — but now it has some explaining to do.
Many take issue with the sculptor’s unflattering depiction of the “I Love Lucy” star.
A self-described “big fan of Lucy’s” from Jamestown thinks the statue needs to be replaced with one befitting the comedy legend.
“Lucille Ball was not only an amazing comedienne, but she was a stunning beauty. Her sense of humor only made her more beautiful,” he said in an interview with Yahoo News. “This statue looks nothing like the beautiful Lucy we all know. If for no other reason than that... the statue should go.”
The Jamestown man, who wishes to remain anonymous, started a Facebook page titled We Love Lucy! Get Rid of this Statue.
“I don’t think this can be repaired,” he said. “Take a look at the beautiful statues Nick at Nite created for ‘Bewitched’ and ‘The Honeymooners’ and Bob Newhart… it needs to be something more like those.”
The group organizer says that he does not want to disparage artist Dave Poulin at all. In fact, he said, the artist has other works that are quite good — he just missed the mark this time.
In this undated image provided by CBS, comedian-actress Lucille Ball and her husband, musician-actor Desi Arnaz, …
“I think it looks like a monster. That is just my opinion,” he said. “When you see it at night, it is frightening.”
The Jamestown area is immensely proud of the classic television icon. Jamestown is home to the Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Museum & Center for Comedy, which hosts an annual comedy festival the first week of August. Jerry Seinfeld will be headlining this year.
Celoron Mayor Scott Schrecengost told the Jamestown Post-Journal that it would cost a lot of money — between $8,000 and $10,000 — to have the original artist recast the statue, which was unveiled in 2009.
Schrecengost told the newspaper that he has no interest in using taxpayer dollars to fix it. Instead, a fund has been set up to raise the money, according to the daily newspaper.

The artist did not reply to Yahoo News’ request for comment.