Betterment Committee doesn’t want Santa statue moved from downtown park

Albion Village Board considers selling park, relocating statue

Photos by Tom Rivers: The statue of Santa in honor of the late Charles W. Howard is located at Waterman Park on North Main Street in Albion, where there is also a Santa-themed mural and a sleigh. About $100,000 in community donations paid for the statue and mural.

ALBION – A group that has helped raise $100,000 for a bronze statue, large mural of Santa, and other improvements to Waterman Park wants those elements to stay put.

The Village Board is talking about putting the park up for sale with the hope of having food businesses in trailers and other entertainment at the site. Mayor Tim McMurray said it could be a big draw to downtown, helping to feed other businesses.

Selling the small park also would out it back on the tax rolls, generating funds for the village and relieve the village of caring for the site.

But the Albion Betterment Committee wants to make it clear it wants the Santa to remain in the park.

Jerome Pawlak, a director on the Albion Betterment Committee, speaks during the board’s meeting Tuesday in the Hoag Library. Behind him are downtown business owner David Snell, left, and ABC director Gary Kent.

Pawlak said keeping the park with a Santa statue, mural and sleigh creates a synergy as the Betterment Committee works to develop a museum to the Santa School. The Charles W. Howard Santa School was in Albion from 1937 until Howard’s death in 1966. The school continues in his name in Midland, Mich.

Ken Bieber speaks at last week’s Village Board meeting. From left in back include Mayor Tim McMurray and village trustees Greg Bennett and Kevin Sheehan. William Gabalski and Jami Allport also are on the board.

Bieber owns the building on the north side of the Waterman Park. He said making the park available for food trailers could be a big draw. He didn’t want to get rid of the Santa-themed elements celebrating Charles Howard and Albion’s heritage with the original Santa School. He thinks the could be better positioned in Albion with the statue in the sidewalk in front of the future museum, and the mural in a more prominent part of Albion.

“It’s not getting rid of Santa by any stretch of the imagination,” he said.

Mayor Tim McMurray and Deputy Mayor Greg Bennett said village-owned land between the Presbyterian Church and a parking lot also could be a higher-profile location for the Santa statue, mural and sleigh, especially if a Santa House were part of the layout.

“This was never anti-Charles Howard or anti-Santa,” McMurray said at last week’s Village Board meeting.

He said the Santa mural and one on the opposite side of the park featuring quarrymen “fight each other” and aren’t complimentary to each other. He sees the Santa and large Santa mural as “kind of hidden” in the pocket park about a half block south of the canal.

He favors putting the land out for sale.

“It gives us tax dollars that this town desperately needs,” he said.

An article on Aug. 13 about the possible sale of the park last month drew nearly 300 comments on the Orleans Hub’s Facebook page with many opposing the sale, and urging the board to try to fill vacant storefronts instead.

“I think that the park is fine just as it is for now,” village resident Jason Dragon posted. “The expense is very low, and it provides a nice visual contrast for the downtown area. I can’t see how privatizing it will add value given that is has been a challenge to utilize many of the other downtown buildings for decades.”

Phil Schening said selling the park and making it available for business would be a good move.

“Clear it out and let food trucks set up there to draw people downtown, permits required with a time frame so more than one get a chance to sell,” he said.

This photo taken from a window of the Pratt theater shows Waterman Park. Besides the Santa statue and mural, there is a mural depicting quarrymen and a n interpretive panel highlighting the historic districts in the community.

Lori Laine has been active in promoting the Santa projects in Albion. She said she might try to buy the land if it is put up for sale so the statue could stay there.

McMurray said if the idea advances, with the land going for sale, he would have Bieber share his plan in detail and disclose the renderings. McMurray believes the community would rally behind Bieber’s ideas.

“Once you see a visual, I promise you you’ll say give me a shovel and I’ll dig it up,” he said.

If the land is up for sale, McMurray said it would likely have to go to the highest bidder.

Bieber was at the Betterment Committee’s board meeting on Tuesday and heard the group’s strong opposition to relocating the Santa elements. He said he doesn’t want to push a project without community support and would be fine with the spot staying as a Santa-themed park.

Betterment Committee members said there are many unknowns about the village’s talk to sell the park. Can the village simply list it for sale and sell it, or does it need the State Legislature’s permission to sell a park? ABC members said municipalities often need the state’s OK to sell parkland.

Also, would the state Department of Transportation even allow the statue to be situated in the sidewalk? The DOT in past has allowed temporary items in the sidewalk, but not permanent things.