NIAGARA FALLS, NY - There is debate in Niagara Falls about whether the city council should approve a six-figure price tag for a statue of abolitionist Frederick Douglass. This after a few months ago, an even more expensive statue went up.
The Falls as you probably know, has a lot of financial problems.
In December, we told you about this statue, installed on Rainbow Boulevard in the Falls. Many people on social media told us they had no idea what it was. We spoke to the artist, who told us it's supposed to symbolize the unity between the U.S. and Canada.
"It took forever to craft, there's a lot of love that went into that and a lot of work," said Jeff Laramore, the artist.
The price tag for the statue — $619,000. $80,000 of which was from the City of Niagara Falls in taxpayer funds. The rest in state funds, from the Niagara River Greenway Commission.
Now, the Greenway Commission is at it again, approving a Frederick Douglass statue and plaza, that would be built in front of the Niagara Falls Municipal Building. Bill Bradberry of the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Commission supports the project.
"We'd like to honor Frederick Douglass for his lifelong work fighting against slavery," he said, "we believe that Frederick Douglass actually appeared here sometime in the late 1860s perhaps even sooner and spoke right down the street here at the First Congregational Church."
When you look around, you can't help but notice all the boarded up businesses and areas that could use some fixing up. The price tag for the statue and plaza -- $280,000 in state funds. No city money would be used. And, some city council members think the money could be used elsewhere.
"We have over 1,100 bad trees in the City of Niagara falls myself and council member Kennedy believe that we can come up with a proposal that would at least address 200 to 300 of them trees for the same money," Council Member Kenny Tompkins said.
"We believe that helping to build a park setting here a plaza setting could complement other efforts to be made to beautify and repopulate some of the empty buildings here," Bradberry said.
The Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Commission acknowledges it is a lot of money, but would like to see the project go out for bid, and possibly get the cost lowered. The city council meeting Thursday night to consider the project.