Plans to erect a memorial to replace the toppled Christopher Columbus statue in Little Italy hit a snag on Wednesday, when a city review panel raised questions about the project’s ownership and plans for maintenance. A group known as Italian American Organizations United unveiled plans on July 1 for a monument to replace the Columbus statue that protestors tore down and rolled into Baltimore’s harbor on July 4, 2020. The Italian American group has commissioned sculptor Sebastian Martorana to create a seven-foot-high monument called the Anonymous Italian Immigrant Family Memorial, to go on the empty eight-foot-tall pedestal where the Columbus statue had been since its dedication on Oct. 8, 1984. The replacement will depict “an Italian immigrant husband alongside his wife holding their infant child.” The monument will be made of Italian Carrara marble, which is being shipped in a 10-ton block from Europe for Martorana to carve in Baltimore. The marble was recently ordered from the Cannalina Quarry in Italy’s Carrara basin and is expected to take weeks to arrive. Martorana said at the July 1 news conference that he believes it’s fitting that the marble is coming from Italy because that means the stone is “an immigrant too.” (Left) A rendering depicts the Anonymous Italian Immigrant Family Memorial that Italian American Organizations United plans to commission. (Right) A statue of Christopher Columbus stands in Baltimore’s Little Italy neighborhood, before protesters tore it down and dumped it into the Inner Harbor. Rendering credit: Sebastian Martorana/Italian American Organizations United. Columbus statue photo by AgnosticPreachersKid via Wikimedia Commons. Martorana and John A. Pica Jr., the President of Italian American Organizations United, met virtually on Wednesday with members of Baltimore’s Public Art Commission (PAC), a civic panel that has legal authority to review and approve plans for any sculpture, monuments and statuary planned for placement on city property. The art commission’s review was triggered because the pedestal sits on land that’s owned by the City of Baltimore, a public plaza in the 200 block of S. President Street just south of Scarlett Place. But instead of giving the memorial project the green light, the panel decided to take no action. Pica told the panel that his group has secured more than $200,000 to pay for the sculpture, including $140,000 from the State of Maryland, and is now raising funds for three plaques to go along with it. “The money is in the bank,” he told the panel. He added that his group has received approval from Mayor Brandon Scott and Reginald Moore, Director of the city’s Department of Recreation and Parks. The panel members asked who would own the memorial and how it would be maintained. They said that if it’s intended to be a gift to the city, for placement on city land, their regulations require that the donor also provide proof of funding to cover the cost of maintaining the art work for 10 years. Panel member Ryan Dorsey, a member of Baltimore’s City Council, said it was his understanding that Italian American Organizations United plans to retain ownership of the memorial. “What I’ve heard here is that the Mayor’s Office and the City is allowing a right of entry onto city property and what I’ve heard from John is that it was assumed that the people commissioning this work of art would retain ownership and direct responsibility to maintain it,” he said. “That’s kind of where I think this work is, and the PAC doesn’t really have a lane with respect to that. It’s just up to the Board of Estimates to grant a right of entry onto the public property.” Pica has indicated in the past that Italian American Organizations United would own the memorial. “Right now we would own the statue as we own the pedestal” where the Columbus statue stood, he told the commission. Other panel members said they wanted to clarify whether the memorial would be a gift to the city or would be owned by the private group, since that could affect how their regulations would be applied. If the private group wants to retain ownership, they said, a memorandum of understanding may be required between the city and the private group, to spell out the terms by which it is being placed on city land and for how long. “I think there’s a bit more procedure that has to happen here,” said commission chair Jaz Erenberg. With any gift of public art to the city, she said, the commission’s regulations state that the donor “has to fundraise for 10 years of maintenance of that piece. The city does not maintain it. That would have to be part of your project.” “I was unaware that we were required to raise money for 10 years for the statue,” Pica said. “Is that a city ordinance?” “It’s a regulation,” said panel member Mary Ann Mears. “I think this is a terrific project. We’re very enthusiastic about it. When we say 10 years…you just have to have money set aside for maintenance over 10 years…That’s very, very important.” Mears suggested that the panel approve the memorial contingent on Pica’s group making a commitment in writing to raise the money to cover maintenance for 10 years. But Erenberg didn’t support that idea: “I don’t think so.” She suggested that a subgroup of the commission meet with the applicants to figure out the next steps to take. “A lot of the process has been skipped over,” Erenberg said. “I’m happy to be flexible and make sure that that meeting happens in a timely fashion. But I don’t think we’re able to come to any decisions at this public meeting today.” Pica said he would be happy to meet with the commission further to discuss various options.  “I don’t know what the cost is going to be,” he said, but “the community in Little Italy was planning on making sure the property is maintained anyway, so if we have to make that commitment…we want to comply with you.” He also told the panel that he would be open to the idea of making the memorial a gift to the city. “This is the first time I’m hearing” the suggestion but “we have no objection to giving it to the city,” he said. “It’s not like it’s something that we can put in our pocket and walk around with…We don’t have a problem with it…We’re happy to meet with you.” Pica noted that his group erected a fence around the pedestal under a right of entry from the city, to thwart occurrences such as the incident on July 4 when a naked man stood on it for several hours like the “Son of David” before police and fire department crews forced him down. The whole discussion took place before the commissioners even saw a rendering of the proposed memorial. Pica, a former Maryland state senator, was good natured about it all, even though he and Martorana had to wait for more than an hour before the commissioners got to their item on the agenda. Listening to the panel members’ earlier discussions about revising their policies, he told the group, reminded him of his days in the Senate during a filibuster. The commission’s next meeting is in September. Pica has said he hopes to have the memorial sculpted and in place by the end of 2027. ...read more read less