PHOTOS: It appeared suddenly about a week ago — first a granite base was sited on the south side of the Firemen’s Memorial Park, on the harbor at the bottom of Church Street. Then a bronze figure of a firefighter, slightly larger than life at 7 feet tall, was fixed to the base.
But according to Chief Michael DeMello, the process was anything but sudden. The Firemen’s Memorial Welfare Committee has been fundraising and working on the plan for the sculpture for nearly two decades.
“We’ve known for years it was something we wanted to do, but it took quite a bit of time to raise the money,” said DeMello. The total cost of the sculpture was about $80,000, paid for with donations and fundraisers.
Victoria Guerina is the artist who created the Firefighter. Rhode Island-based, she is a member of the board of Art League RI.