Statue of Evander Holyfield

The Evander Holyfield statue is a monumental statue built in 2017 and intended for installation in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Built in honor of professional boxer Evander Holyfield, the statue was designed by sculptor Brian Hanlon. While the statue was initially planned on being installed in 2018, it is still in storage as of 2020.

Evander Holyfield statue
LocationAtlanta, Georgia, United States
DesignerBrian Hanlon
MaterialBronze
Height9 feet (2.7 m)
Dedicated toEvander Holyfield

History

The statue of Evander Holyfield was first announced on November 27, 2017, by Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. In a press release issued that day, Reed said that the work, a 9-foot (2.7 m) tall bronze statue designed by sculptor Brian Hanlon, would be located in front of the Flatiron Building in Downtown Atlanta and would "remind viewers of his contributions to the sport of boxing and the City of Atlanta’s proud legacy of athletic achievement."[1] Reed went on to call Holyfield one of the city's "most accomplished residents".[2] Holyfield was raised in Atlanta's Bowen Homes housing project and began boxing at a young age. He accumulated numerous accolades over his professional boxing career, including winning a bronze medal in boxing at the 1984 Summer Olympics and being elected into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2017, his first year of eligibility.[1] The $90,000 cost of the statue was part of a $4.4 million investment in public art in Downtown, Midtown, and Southwest Atlanta.[3] The press release stated that the monument would be installed in early 2018.[1]

Despite this expected installation date, an April 2019 article published by Curbed Atlanta pointed out that the statue had not yet been erected, with Hanlon claiming that the sculpture was being held in storage by the city government. In the same article, a representative of Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said they would look into the matter.[4] Another Curbed article published in November 2019 stated that the statue was no longer going to be installed in Downtown and that instead, the city was working with a neighborhood planning unit to install the statue somewhere in Southwest Atlanta.[5]

References
  1. "Mayor Kasim Reed Announces New Statue Honoring Evander Holyfield to be Placed in Downtown Atlanta". atlantaga.gov. November 27, 2017. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  2. Getachew, Eden (November 28, 2017). "Giant Evander Holyfield statue to be erected Downtown". Creative Loafing. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  3. Green, Josh (November 27, 2017). "Downtown Atlanta statue will immortalize boxing great Evander Holyfield". Curbed Atlanta. Vox Media. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  4. Keenan, Sean Richard (April 4, 2019). "Whatever happened to the Evander Holyfield statue planned for downtown Atlanta?". Curbed Atlanta. Vox Media. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  5. Keenan, Sean Richard (November 5, 2019). "Evander Holyfield's curiously missing statue no longer to be installed downtown". Curbed Atlanta. Vox Media. Retrieved December 24, 2020.

Further reading
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