BY KEVIN SAWYER – A couple of days ago, a mysterious statue of Pikachu suddenly appeared in a park in downtown New Orleans. No one knows where is came from or who the sculptor is. The statue was placed on top of what used to be a fountain but the space was no longer in use.
The statue is constructed from fiberglass and is hollow. It has been painted and aged to resemble bronze and at the foot of the monument is a Twitter hashtag that simply says” #pokemonument. The statue is located in New Orleans’ Lower Garden District at Coliseum Square. It seems to many that the statue has been meticulously and scrupulously planned out and built for it fits into the exact measurements on which it now rests atop the sight of the now defunct fountain.
While the politicians of New Orleans are still undecided about whether or not to allow the monument to remain, many of the citizens of New Orleans are speaking out in favor of it. It is certainly a most unique sculpture found no where else in the country and it does take up a space that has long remained empty. The city had tentative plans to get that fountain up and running again but are unsure now that Pikachu has so mysteriously landed there.
Many residents of the area are happy for the new found foot traffic coming into the neighborhood and enjoying the park and patronizing local businesses. A recent posting on Reddit has already drawn more than 5,000 supporters for the statue. Neighborhood organizations are not sure if the artist will one day remove the statue but believe that, if it stays, it could be incorporated into a new fountain at the site.
PHOTO CREDITS: Matthew Hinton / Twitter