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Veterans Memorial just got a little bronzer today with the installation of a new 8-foot tall 600-pound statue of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger himself was on site for the dedication, along with International Sports Hall of Fame founder Dr. Robert Goldman, sculpter Ralph Crawford, Franklin County Commissioners Marilyn Brown and John O’Grady, Franklin County Veterans Memorial President of the Board of Directors John Raphael and Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman.
The placement at Veterans Memorial is fitting, given that the venue has hosted the Arnold Sports Festival since 1989, and has hosted other bodybuilding events involving Schwarzenegger since 1970. The statue was placed on the front lawn at Vet’s Memorial.
The 24th Annual Arnold Sports Festival takes place March 1st through the 4th, which hosts over 18,000 athlete and 175,000 attendees in Downtown Columbus, which generates over $42 million in visitor spending.
More information can be found online at www.arnoldsportsfestival.com.
Is that permanent? And if so, did they run it by the Public Art Commission first?
I believe it’s permanent. No idea on Public Art Commission. I’m pretty sure no pubic funds were used on it, if that matters. It was purchased and donated by Dr. Goldman, I believe.
Probably no need to go through Public Art Commission.
http://development.columbus.gov/publicart.aspx
The Columbus Art Commission (CAC) was appointed in 2009. It has statutory authority over the design and placement of all works of art to be acquired by the city, placed on land owned or leased by the city, or placed anywhere in the public right‐of‐way. The seven‐member commission is comprised of individuals experienced and interested in the arts, landscape architecture and architecture.
I am pretty sure putting up a statue to celebrate steroids and cheating on your wife is not something to celebrate.
Why didn’t they mount it on the Santa Maria?
Or they could have put it on top of the cake with really tiny elephants in the goodale park fountain?
However, there are about 20 other clean sports I think going on over the weekend. Martial arts and gymnastics, cheerleading, etc.
I hope the statue gets stolen by a group of frat guys. Or maybe the wives of cheating husbands of America tear it down. Not a fan. What next, statue of bobby brown? michael vicks? giant coin to celebrate coin gate?
I had no idea that statue was a celebration of infidelity. Here I thought it was a celebration of the man’s contributions to this city.
I agree with CM – The statue recognizes his body building accomplishments and the contribution his festival has made to our city. This town has two legendary football coaches who went out on a low note, a campus hotel named after a white collar criminal and a Governor who was indicted on ethics violations. Michael Phelps won 8 gold medals in Beijing, do we ignore all that once he got photographed doing a bong hit? It’s humans being human, we can still recognize their accomplishments without condoning their foibles.
I attended the CMC breakfast yesterday morning and was very happy to hear them speak of continuing to have the Arnold Festival in Columbus even though they are being offered lots of money to take it elsewhere.
We’ve got our own “Rocky” style statue of the Oak :D :D :D :D
My hero. Musikfan, please stop. No one cares.
um, what war did Arnold fight in? It’s Veterans Memorial, a memorial to veterans. Quite a few people upset about this.
Regardless of how people feel about Arnold that seems to be a pretty mediocre sculpture. I haven’t seen it in person yet, maybe it looks better the closer you get to it. Since Columbus’ debate over public art started to heat up again several years ago, my hopes for the city have been that the quality and quantity of public art would increase mutually. It doesn’t seem to be working out that way so far.
Also is that county land or city land that Vet’s is located on? It may not technically come under the purview of the Public Art Commission, but it definitely comes under the heading of “public property” and hence there really should be a more rigorous approval process for art that winds up on that property. Whether the “art” was donated by private generosity, or paid for with public funds, the approval of the public should really be sought out ahead of time, in some way.
To echo Steve85′s comment, I’ve also heard that some people are upset about this being placed at Veteran’s Memorial. Which I find to be a bit silly. It’s an event venue first and formost, and The Arnold Sports Festival has helped to bring in a lot of people and dollars over the years to this facility.
I never realized, but according to Vet’s website, their core mission is “to commemorate the services of all members and veterans of the armed forces of the United States .”
I wonder if Vets were upset when Sexapalooza was held there in January?
So, Walker, veterans are silly, huh?
Sorry in advance for the long post: The statue of Arnold in his glory years, which he associates with Columbus after his Mr. World victory, is well overdue and placed in the right location. Thank you Arnold for your 24 years of sincere dedication and commitment to Columbus, a city you have long referred to as your “second home.” Arnold has been supporting and promoting Columbus in big and small ways long before most of the CU peeps were even born. He saw the apple in the seed of this city when most others didn’t. In that way, he is just like us. Unlike us, he has the power and resources to make big things happen for Columbus. And he has done just that, which deserves permanent recognition. Like many of us, he was not born in Columbus, or even Ohio, but recognized Columbus as a special place. He has talked the talk and walked the walk by investing his valuable time, money and reputation on behalf of Columbus. He didn’t have to do any of this, and he has done so despite efforts by higher profile cities to lure The Arnold Classic away with huge offers of cash money. Almost everyone in America, especially every athlete, goes with the cash money instead of the sentimental connection they have with a city. Arnold is a rare exception, sticking with Columbus when most anyone else would have sold out for the bright lights long ago.
The criticisms of the statue that are based on moralizing issues having to do with Arnold’s personal life are really off point and irrelevant to the honor. He’s being recognized for his efforts on behalf of Columbus and the fitness world, not as a saint. If we only dedicated statues and monuments to people without serious personal moral lapses, we wouldn’t have many statues and monuments. As far as the complaint about Arnold not being a U.S. veteran, I would just note that he served in the Ausrian Army, a U.S. ally, before coming to America. In that regard, I’m pretty sure he has a whole lot more military service on behalf of the free world than the vast majority of CU peeps. Further, when taking into account his public service as Governor of California, I think most of us don’t quite have the chops to argue he hasn’t put his time in to get a pass on having a statue placed at good ol’ Vets Memorial. In closing, I think CU peeps should respect and support the Arnold statue, which honors someone who doesn’t just do a lot of talkin’, but someone who has done the walkin’ year after year long before anyone gave a squat about this town. Or even heard of it.
Sorry, but no amount of spin will keep this from being anything else but a complete insult to American veterans of war.
Steve85 has a good point but I bet if they put up a bunch of other celebrity statues in the same spot this one wouldn’t seem so weird any more
Steve is trying to create a controversy where there isn’t one. The vast majority of the events at Vets Memorial have nothing to do with veterans, and the single most notable event is the Classic.
If Veterans want to have a gripe, they should start with the modeling and talent scams that are operated out of the facility every couple months.
Maybe they should rename the building to something less confusing (something that doesn’t have to do with Veterans!)
There’s nothing confusing about it. The Value City Arena doesn’t actually contain values, the Nationwide Arena isn’t actually nationwide, and the Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium isn’t actually 100% about veterans.
We sure do have some crabby people on this forum. It’s a freaking statue. Chill out. I wonder if it’s the winter blues kicking in for you people…