Bronze statue installed outside former Armory in Medina

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 April 2019 at 12:47 pm

Dedication celebration expected in September after site improvements

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – A 7-foot-high bronze statue of a soldier was installed this morning on a Medina sandstone base that is a memorial to the soldiers who trained at the former Medina Armory.

The memorial has been more than a decade in the making.

The statue was complete in November and made its first public appearance during Medina’s Parade of Lights on Nov. 24. The statue was placed inside the former Armory on Dec. 20. The building is now used as a YMCA.

Medina DPW workers helped move the statue today. They include Joe Perry, the DPW superintendent (back to camera), and employees Ben Lacy (right) and Cody Dix (left).

The statue was moved out of the YMCA, where it spent the winter.

The Medina Armory opened in 1901 for Company F, which formed in 1891. In 1977, the National Guard left the Medina Armory. The site has been used as a YMCA for more than three decades.

The statue, which weighs 1,400 pounds, is moved down Pearl Street to go on the monument in front of the Y.

A crowd of people, including many local veterans, gathered to watch the installation.

The statue was created by sculptor Brian Porter and the University of Buffalo’s foundry director Chris Serano.

The late Medina resident Bill Menz was influential in building the sandstone monument and raising more than $65,000 for the statue.

A dedication is expected in September for the statue. That will give time for landscaping and additional work on the plaques on the monument.

The monument currently includes 550 names of local soldiers who fought in wars on behalf of the United States. The soldiers enlisted and trained at the Medina Armory for conflicts from 1898 to 1945 including the Spanish-American War, Mexican-American, World War I and World War II.

The statue stands prominently outside the Orleans County YMCA.

Orleans Hub will have another article later today on the statue installation.

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