Joe Paolino, Jr. and Christopher Columbus set off to find a new route

March 3, 2023/Nancy Thomas

“I would like to thank Mayor Brett Smiley and the Providence Board of Parks Commissioners for today’s decision. Like them, I believe this historic piece of art should remain in Rhode Island and be preserved instead of being melted down for scrap. The statue is a sense of pride for Italian-Americans in Rhode Island. I now look forward to finding a partner to once again display the statue, while also recognizing the history of Christopher Columbus, both good and bad.” – Joseph R. Paolino Jr.

“There have been three efforts to sell the Christopher Columbus statue. Now, it’s done. I’ve been in a state of prayer that no one will do anything to damage it,” said Ray Rickman of the Commission that made the decision on who would purchase or what the future of the controversial statue would be.

The statue was taken down after being vandalized several times by the throwing of red paint, with threats of a beheading. Designed by State of Liberty designer, Frederic Auguste Bartholdi and made at the Gorham Manufacturing Company in RI, 130 years ago, the statue has sat for almost three years in an undisclosed storage warehouse location in Providence, near where the annual Columbus Day Parade takes place on Federal Hill.

Paolino said he didn’t want to see the statue melted down for scrap. Mayor Smiley called the statue “a meaningful and valuable piece of art”.

Paolino said he had several options under consideration in placing the statue – the airport, convention center, a museum, or in Johnston’s Memorial Park. Paolino purchased the statue for $50,000. A plan to keep it secure was part of the bidding process. One other bidder was higher by a thousand dollars or so, but did not have as developed a plan, and the Commission felt that they would sell the statue and had no emotional connection to it.

James Taylor, of the Elmwood area of Providence, who sat on the committee, said “Paolino ripped them off” – noting the value of the statue being estimated as $500K by an auction house. Mayor Smiley responded, “fair price is what someone is willing to pay for it”.

Taylor said he would like to see the money used to put up a fountain in the area that has been left empty.