A group that wants to keep the Christopher Columbus statue in place says it plans to take legal action against the Onondaga Historical Association on the eve of the organization’s public presentation of three redesign concepts for Columbus Circle.
The OHA will present the finalists’ designs for Columbus Circle and the neighboring Powelson Site at 6 p.m. Tuesday at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 220 E. Fayette St. The finalists are Creative Urban Alchemy of New York City, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer of Quebec, and Ten x Ten Studio of Minneapolis with MASARY Studio of Boston. A reception and exhibit opening follows at the OHA, 321 Montgomery St. The exhibit runs through Nov. 24, and visitors can submit feedback.
The Columbus Monument Corporation said it plans to file a petition under Article 78 of New York’s civil practice law to compel the OHA to respond to its Freedom of Information Law, or FOIL, requests. The group argues the OHA is acting as an agent of the City of Syracuse and is therefore subject to the law. The CMC says the OHA has refused to provide the information.
The OHA, which the state Legislature chartered in 1863, is a private nonprofit education association. It says it operates independently and is not under the city’s purview.
“Everything they have done is a charade, disguised to look like it has public participation, when it is clearly a case of public deception on a major scale,” said Nick Pirro, a former Onondaga County executive and CMC vice president.
The group also claims the competition was undertaken “at the direction of former Mayor Ben Walsh with the goal of removing the statue of Christopher Columbus from the site.”
OHA Executive Director Lisa Romano Moore previously told WAER the association didn’t make keeping or removing the monument a requirement for the finalists. WAER has asked the OHA for a reply to the CMC’s accusations. We will post that reply here once we have it.
Editor's Note: This article was updated to reflect the accurate legal actions and dates of the designs on exhibit. The OHA is a supporter of WAER.
