City Council Panel Votes to Accept Balboa Statue
A San Diego City Council committee voted Wednesday to accept a controversial statue of Vasco Nunez de Balboa, the namesake of downtown’s Balboa Park, who is credited with discovering the Pacific Ocean.
As a result of the vote by the Public Facilities and Recreation Committee, the Balboa statue is expected to be placed in Balboa Park.
The city’s Commission for Arts and Culture had voted last Friday against placing the statue in the park after public testimony that Balboa and the Spanish conquerors were responsible for centuries of European repression of native Americans.
The furor that erupted at the commission hearing last week is similar to the controversy surrounding next year’s 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ voyage to the New World.
The 23-foot-high bronze statue was designed by Tijuana artist Guillermo Castano and is valued at $150,000. It is being offered as a gift by Elizabeth North and her daughter, Gaye.
Acceptance of the gift and placement of the statue must be approved by the full City Council, which is expected to take up the issue Nov. 18.
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