Published July 11, 2011
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, Celtics owner Steve Pagliuca and Bill Russell announce the plan to build a Russell statue in May 2011. (AP)
With his jersey in the Garden rafters and his bust in Springfield’s Basketball Hall of Fame, all that’s missing from Bill Russell’s resume is a statue. Now, Russell can check that off, too.
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino announced this morning that a statue paying tribute to the legendary Celtics center will sit in City Hall Plaza and is set to be unveiled in the spring of 2012.
Memorializing the legendary Bostonian — perhaps the best of all-time Celtics player and NBA center — is long overdue.
After reviewing submissions, the Bill Russell Legacy Committee and the Boston Art Commission chose three artists to compete for the right to design the city’s tribute to Russell.
Fern Cunningham, who created the monument to Harriet Tubman in Boston’s South End, is one of the three finalists. Antonio Mendez with Oudens Ello Architects, who created the Players Statue at Fenway Park, and local artist Ann Hirsch are the other two.
The only question left is whether the artists will take a little license and give Russell’s statue 11 fingers — the only way to fit every championship ring he owns.