KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM) — Kalamazoo is seeking a $54,000 state grant to plan repairs on the controversial “Fountain of the Pioneers” in Bronson Park.
But not all the commissioners were willing to accept the money. There has been a long standing controversy about what the sculpture actually depicts. It appears to show a pioneer holding a club over the head of a Native American and Commissioner Shannon Sykes says she can’t abide by that, given all that is going on.
Vice Mayor Don Cooney said that was not the intention of the artist, Alfonso Iannelli.
The fountain was recently granted a listing in the National Register of Historic Places, and local tribes have been included in the plans to repair the fountain and provide new additions to the park and the community to tell their history.
The commission voted 5-1 to go after the grant.
