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Tuesday, September 26, 2000
Railings are installed to protect Selena memorial
Some people were writing messages expressing their love for Tejano singer on the statue itself
By Guy H. Lawrence
Caller-Times
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| George Gongora/Caller-Times |
| Scott Segers (left) and Wayne Melton with Industrial Fabricators install stainless steel railings around the memorial statue of Selena at the entrance to the Peoples Street T-Head on Monday. Passersby watching the men were skeptical that the railings would keep those who want to write messages on the statue from doing so. |
As contractors set 4-foot high railings around the Selena statue at the entrance to the Peoples Street T-Head Monday, some passersby welcomed the stainless steel barrier designed to discourage people from writing on the memorial.
Others, like Sylvia Morales, a San Antonio tourist, said the new railings not only detract from the statue, but from the image of Selena, who had the reputation of being very open and friendly.
"I think it is good for people to express their love for Selena," said Morales, who compared the sentiments people write on the memorial column to those written on the walls surrounding Elvis Presley's Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tenn.
The $600,000 memorial, unveiled in 1997 to honor the memory of Corpus Christi's Grammy-winning Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez, originally included wooden planks where visitors could write messages. But that didn't stop people from writing on the main column of the memorial or even carving into the statue itself. City workers then painted over the graffiti, but the problem has continued.
Although most passersby said they supported the railings, none believed they would have the intended effect.
Carol Urbina, who was walking on the bayfront with her mother Nydiaas workers dug out sand and drilled through the concrete, said she didn't think the railings detracted from the memorial. Urbina said she also thought that their installation was necessary.
"It's pretty sad that they have to put it up, but they have to try something," Carol Urbina said.
The railings, manufactured by Industrial Fabricators of Corpus Christi and installed with the authorization of the Selena Foundation, were paid for by The Devary Durrill Foundation, named for Dusty Durrill's daughter. Durrill declined to reveal the costs of the railings but said the city would not pay for the construction.
The railings bear several signs, in English and Spanish, which read "Show your respect. Please - No markings."
"Essentially it was the foul graffiti and some statue damage that really upset the family," Durrill said. "The whole idea was to make a friendly barrier that is not a total barrier.
"It looks like we might be able to have a good-looking monument," he said.
The barrier was one of several proposed remedies to graffiti that over time has marred the statue erected in honor of the singer. Selena was fatally shot in 1995 by the president of her fan club, and city officials said the messages have been a problem since the memorial was built.
Ray Curran, park operations supervisor, said park workers have cleaned up the memorial at least once a week, sometimes as often as twice a week.
Staff writer Guy H. Lawrence can be reached at 886-3792 or by e-mail at lawrenceg@caller.com
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