Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl
City Hall Plaza will serve as home to the Bill Russell statue, Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Boston Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca announced Monday in a brief ceremony on the expected location on the south side near State Street.
While considering a handful of locations during the selection process, a site visit to City Hall Plaza with Russell confirmed to the legacy committee that it was the ideal spot.
“The mayor brought Bill here and, when they came to look at the site, literally hundreds of kids surrounded him and were taking pictures,” said Pagliuca. “It was as if he was a live statue here. It’s going to be very exciting.”
Menino suggested that Russell could be the first seed in making the area a place to celebrate all of Boston’s sports history.
“It might be a plaza of champions in the future,” Menino said, “but we want to make sure that Bill Russell is the lead champion.”
Russell led the Celtics to 11 league championships in 13 seasons.
President Barack Obama suggested Boston build a statue of Russell when he awarded him a Presidential Medal of Freedom in February. Obama said he hoped one day children would look up to a statue “built not only to Bill Russell the player but Bill Russell the man.”
Three artists have been selected as finalists for the design of the statue and, after making their first official site visit Monday, will be asked to submit their visions to the legacy committee in October. Pagliuca suggested the actual statue could be unveiled next spring, noting he hoped it would coincide with the Celtics’ 2011-12 season, if the lockout allows for one.
The three artists are Fern Cunningham, creator of the Monument to Harriett Tubman in Boston’s South End; Antonio Mendez with Oudens Ello Architects, whose work includes the player statues outside Fenway Park; and Anne Hirsch, a local artist based in Somerville.
The artists have the challenge of designing a statue that not only celebrates Russell’s accomplishments on the basketball court, but what he meant to the city off the court.
WRITTEN BYÂ Chris Forsberg covers the Celtics for ESPNBoston.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Follow Chris Forsberg on Twitter:Â @ESPNForsberg
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