Greek goddess still in tug-of-war
By Nick Claussen
Athens NEWS Associate Editor
May 1, 2008
The fight over the statue of Hebe, the goddess of eternal youth, took another turn at Monday evening’s Athens City Council meeting, and now will be discussed by two other city committees.
The statue is located inside the Athens water treatment plant on West State Street, but a group of local residents led by Phil Goldsberry, former service/safety director for Athens, are pushing to have it moved to the Athens Community Center so it can accessible to the public.
Crystal Kynard, manager of the water treatment plant, has argued that the statue should stay where it is, and on Monday she received support from Ron Chapman, another former service/safety director for Athens.
Goldsberry brought up the issue of the statue last week, and explained that the history he has read about the statue states that it was first dedicated in 1895 by the Young Women’s Christian Temperance Union (an anti-alcohol group) and was placed at the Athens County Courthouse. Over the years, the statue was broken and vandalized several times, and in the 1970s parts of it were stored in a box.
Water plant employees put the statue back together and placed it in the water plant where they could keep watch over it, Goldsberry said. He was the service/safety director at the time, and said it was then-Mayor Don Barrett’s intention and the intention of the city that the statue always be accessible to the public. The statue is not accessible where it is currently located in the water treatment plant, Goldsberry noted.
On Monday, the retired city official told council members that he had a copy of a letter written by the late D.H. Goldsberry, manager at the water treatment plant at the time the statue was restored, saying the statue could be moved if necessary. He also presented a letter from D.H. Goldsberry’s daughter who supports moving the statue.
He also said that he approached local architect Mike Noel and sculptor Marc Gagliano to look over the statue, and they determined that it can be moved without damaging it.
Gagliano said his research found that the Athens statue is a copy of an original statue of the Greek goddess Hebe that was sculpted in 1804. A copy of the statue is also on display at Louisiana State University, he added.
“I do support moving it to where it can be seen,” he said. Moving the statue could be expensive, but it is doable and he said he would like for his company, Estate Lions, Marble and Granite Arts, to be able to submit a bid to do the work.
Moving the statue would not damage it, as other city officials have insisted, Gagliano said. He added that if the city does move the statue, it could put another piece of artwork in the hole left at the water treatment plant.
Beverly Schumacher, representing the Athens County Historical Society and Museum, said she also supports moving the statue and said the city could move it into the museum for public display.
CHAPMAN SAID that the water treatment plant employees have a strong affection for the statue, and he argued against moving it. Carol Riley was the water plant employee who did most of the work on the statue, and Chapman said that Riley used zinc jar lids to replace some of the missing parts. Riley worked hard to rebuild the statue and the water treatment plant workers have done a lot to take care of it over the years, he said.
Chapman added that he talked to D.H. Goldsberry about the statue and told him that he would do whatever he could to take care of it and keep it at the water treatment plant. He would like to see the statue stay where it is, Chapman said.
Ray Halzett, also a former service/safety director, wrote in a letter to The Athens NEWS that the statue is not an original piece of art and its value mainly derives from all the work city employees did to restore it.
“It had the same ‘artistic value’ as any piece of yard art available at the many outlet stores in the vicinity of Zanesville, Ohio,” Hazlett wrote. The water treatment plant employees took on the project of restoring the statue in the 1970s, and today the employees are dedicated to protecting the emotional investment of those who did the work on it, he said.
“Where the piece is displayed is not important,” Hazlett wrote. “What is important is that the work that was done to transform a trashed reproduction into true artwork not be altered.” If the statue is moved, it should be for the purpose of displaying and appreciating the work done by city employees to restore the statue, Hazlett concluded.
Council President Bill Bias said that the issue seemed like a “no-brainer” to him that the statue should be moved, until he went to the water treatment plant and talked to the employees.
“There are some very deep-seated feelings about this,” Bias said. The feelings of the water treatment employees need to be considered when deciding whether the statue should be moved, he said.
Bias added that he has also received a large number of calls and e-mails from people on both sides of the issue.
City Council decided to forward the issue to both the Municipal Arts Commission and the Recreation Advisory Board for recommendations before making any decisions on what to do with the statue.
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aruss commented, on May 5, 2008 at 10:02 a.m.:
This Beautiful Statue should be moved to where the public can all enjoy her!! I remember when my grandfather D.H Goldsberry made the news, from taking the time to restore this Lovely piece of Art, and I know he would want other's to be able to enjoy this statue
