Foley has kicked off a new public art program with the installation of a bronze statue at Mel Roberts Park on Cedar Street, the first piece in what city officials hope will become a growing collection of sculptures around town. The statue, nicknamed Slugger, was donated by the family of the late Melvin Roberts, the park’s namesake, and marks the start of an effort led by the city’s Revitalization and Beautification Advisory Board.
Roberts spent roughly three decades working for the city’s parks department and lived across the street from the Cedar Street park for much of his life, staying there until his death in 2009 at the age of 97. His deep, lifelong connection to that stretch of Foley made the park a natural home for the memorial piece his family chose to give the city.
Pat Davis, Roberts’ daughter and chairwoman of the advisory board overseeing the new initiative, was a driving force behind getting the program off the ground. Her family purchased the Slugger statue and donated it outright, while the city handled the practical side of the installation, building a stone foundation for the piece and adding signage to explain its story to visitors.
City officials say the Cedar Street statue is only the beginning. Plans are already in motion for additional bronze pieces elsewhere in Foley, including one planned for the grounds of the public library and another slated for a new dog park that has yet to be built. The program is being funded through a mix of public money and private donations, a model city leaders hope will let the collection keep growing over time without falling solely on taxpayers.
For a city that has invested heavily in recent years in parks and beautification projects, the new art initiative is being framed as a way to add character and storytelling to public spaces that residents already use every day, while also honoring the people whose long service helped build those spaces in the first place.