The Peoria Park District Board of Trustees denied two different requests to put statues on park district property at its meeting Wednesday night.
In two unanimous votes, the board voted with the recommendation of the planning committee to deny the proposals.
The first request, from the Uplands Residential Association and the West Bluff Council, would have placed a statue of Hebe in Upper Laura Bradley Park. Hebe is a minor Greek goddess of youth and spring. The statue would have been in the same spot as one of Christopher Columbus that was removed several years ago.
In a submitted proposal, proponents of the statue argue the youth and vitality of Hebe echoes the personage of Laura Bradley herself.
The campaign for a replacement statue has been a point of contention between the park board and members of the Uplands neighborhood. Three residents spoke in favor of the Hebe statue during public comment, including West Bluff Council president Conrad Stinnett.
“A predecessor board of yours approved a Hebe statue back in 1912,” he said, and went on to explain that statue was removed and never returned after it was hit by a car.
Citing a policy approved by the board of trustees in August 2022, board president Robert Johnson had previously stated that public dollars can’t be used on statues or memorials and the community members would have to find a way to fund a new art installation themselves.
However, at Wednesday night’s meeting, trustee Alex Sierra said he didn’t agree with the wording of the policy. Board members broadly agreed the park district should shoulder the cost of some sort of replacement.
“We should pay for this period,” said trustee Tim Bertschy. “It’s unfair to ask the community to pay for it.”
Trustee Reagan Leslie Hill is a West Bluff resident and represents the Central District. She suggested park district staff explore replacement options for the green space where the Columbus statue used to stand.
She went on to clarify: it doesn’t necessarily have to be a statue.
“I am an artist and thinking about kind of a statue and what that can do,” Hill said. “But then also something that might be more interactive or offer water or nature. You know [User Experience] design is very vast.”
Park district staff will review options for the space and are expected to present them to the board at the Dec. 1 meeting.
The second request came from developer Ken Blickenstaff’s KDB Group. The proposal would’ve placed an 18-foot-tall statue of Theodore Roosevelt hoisting an American flag. It would stand in a plot of open green space owned by the park district at Grandview Drive and Glen Avenue.
In submitted documents, Blickenstaff said the sculpture would be made by area artist Lonnie Stewart.
The proposal also argues Roosevelt had a personal connection to Peoria, passing through the city in 1910 to see Grandview Drive.
The board also denied this proposal. When asked for clarification, staff explained the previously mentioned statuary and public art policy doesn’t allow for statues of real historic figures.
