Spirit of Victory statue staying put

Rob Creenan, Niagara Gazette, Niagara Falls, N.Y.
·1 min read

Dec. 5—LEWISTON — After planning to move the Spirit of Victory statue within the Village of Lewiston, the board of trustees has reversed its plans on the move.

The board unanimously voted to leave the statue where it is and not relocate it to Academy Park. The board had previously approved moving the statue from its current location off of Lower River Road near Joseph Davis State Park in August.

Mayor Anne Welch said she spoke with former Lewiston Council on the Arts directors Eva Nicklas and Irene Rykaszewski about the statue as they preferred its current location, which she saw no problem with.

The Spirit of Victory was first installed at Artpark in 1989 under the name "Drums Along the Niagara." It was relocated to its current spot and given its current name in 1998.

Discussions for relocation occurred during the initial conversations of the Lewiston Public Art Project, which involved a mural wrap around the Academy Park's restroom, adding metal benches to Discovery Niagara shuttle stops, and possibly adding metal art frames.

Nicklas spoke at the village's Oct. 16 meeting about how the statue's current site is its home now and that the original artist, Tom Mullanny, prefers it remain there too.