Pirate statue from former Pike Elementary relocates to Russell Middle School
Before the 50-year anniversary of Pike
Elementary in January 2006, sculptor Charles Green posed beside the pirate he
had created for his old school in 1993. The sculpture has been relocated to
Russell Middle School to represent its Raider mascot.
Westside Pioneer file photo
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After more than a year of storage in a District 11 facilities yard, the welded-steel figure has been relocated to Russell Middle School at 3825 Montebello Drive, where it will represent the school's Raider nickname.
A celebration to rededicate it as such will be Thursday, Sept. 24 from 4:15 to 5:15 p.m., a D-11 e-mail states.
Started in 1956, Pike was one of several schools that D-11 closed in 2009 as part of a cost-saving effort.
The school's old building at 2510 N. Chestnut St. has housed the Academy for Advanced & Creative Learning since 2010. But the academy did not want a pirate because it had adopted a hawk as its mascot.
The sculpture was the 1993 creation of Charles Green, a former Pike student whose kids also went to the school.
Green, who still lives in the former Pike attendance area, told the Westside Pioneer that relocating the statue doesn't bother him. It won't even be the first time something like that has happened. Before Pike, Green had attended Lincoln Elementary. He later created a sculpture for that school as well. Now Lincoln too has closed (after 2013), and its sculpture (a panther) has moved to Penrose Elementary, he said.
Westside Pioneer article
(Posted 9/17/15;
Schools:
General)
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