The governor, a majority in the New Hampshire Legislature and the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources are all on board with spending $500,000 to erect a statue to honor the legacy of teacher and astronaut Christa McAuliffe.
They want the bronze casting placed in front of the State House, in the city she resided until her death in 1986 aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.
But on Wednesday, Executive Councilors Joe Kenney and David Wheeler, both Republicans, voiced their opposition to the plan, appearing to catch even Gov. Chris Sununu off guard.
Kenney said he was in favor of erecting a statue to McAuliffe, but said he opposed using public money, and would instead prefer to see private funds raised, even though the Legislature approved the funding in the budget passed more than six months ago.
He also questioned the placement of the statue in the grassy area in front of the State House, as envisioned by Sununu. That concern was echoed by Wheeler.
“Great idea, wrong place,” he said, prompting a blunt response by the governor: “Could not disagree more, and apparently the Legislature disagrees too.”
Despite their opposition, the council voted 3-2 in favor of the project on Wednesday. After a national search, artist Benjamin Victor, an Idaho-based sculptor who specializes in bronze castings, was selected to produce the work. Under the terms of the contract, he will receive $250,000 to produce a bronze statue of McAuliffe at approximately 125% of her life size. The rest of the funding will be used on maintenance and other costs.
Erecting statues —and, the occasional historical marker — are not immune from controversy in New Hampshire. Kenney said taxpayer money would be better spent on the housing or childcare crises.
Department of Natural and Cultural Resources Commissioner Sarah Stewart told Kenney that the state is willing to accept private donations, but noted that some statues on the State House grounds were funded by the Legislature, while others were funded privately.
Stewart is serving on a commission working to bring the statue project to life, which has been holding public meetings and accepting input from stakeholders including the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center and the Department of Education.
“It’s more than putting a statue up,” she said. “This is going to be a real all-hands-on-deck opportunity to remind folks of her legacy as a teacher, as an educator, and as someone who was brave enough to take on this amazing challenge.”
Stewart said the final placement of the statue hasn’t been determined. She would like to see it completed by next September, in time for what would have been the former-Concord resident’s 75th birthday.
Councilor Cinde Warmington noted that this would be the first woman honored with a statue on the State House lawn, something she was “long past time.”
McAuliffe was teaching at Concord High School when, in 1984, she applied to President Ronald Reagan’s Teacher in Space Project. She was one of seven crew members aboard NASA’s Challenger spacecraft when it exploded on Jan. 28,1986, 73 seconds after it launched.
