At the request of Hermosa Beach Planning Commissioner Pete Tucker, the city officials recently agreed to explore the prospect of restoring a well-known statue standing just west of the pier plaza.

Now it seems as though the project might fall into the hands of a private committee of citizens who wish to restore the historical memorial with money out of their own pockets.

Some estimate the cost to be about $25,000. With the city possibly facing major budget shortfalls, some wonder why the cost is so high, what exactly will it fund and if it could be completed for less.

“The process is something in which the statue will be made into another mold with much more detail and with that casting, brass will be poured into it,” said Tucker. “Right now the statue is made out of fiberglass and so we are replacing that with brass, and that is the reason for the high cost. It will be brass with a high shine and more detail in areas like the face.”

The statue is of an image of famed local surfer and lifeguard instructor Tim Kelly riding a wave. Kelly died at the age of 24 in a 1964 automobile accident. The city built the statue a year later to immortalize his short but influential presence in Hermosa Beach.

The city is still awaiting word on whether it will receive grant monies to help fund the pier project. If it does, some of the funds already earmarked for the pier construction could be diverted to the statue’s refurbishment.

“I understand that there is a group forming to raise the money independently,” said Councilman Art Yoon. “I think we’ll have to look at the budget and make a lot of tough calls. I wouldn’t reject the idea of partially funding restoration of the statue, but the only budgetary items I hold completely sacrosanct are those that pertain to essential services such as public safety.

“Bottom line is I would be very reluctant to scale back services for anything nonessential.”

The city is spending an estimated $3.6 million on the third phase of the pier renovation project with the final plans to be approved this month and construction expected to begin sometime in the near future.

“In reality, the Kelly statute was not discussed until recently,” said Mayor Sam Edgerton. “Recently, I have received at least a dozen e-mails now from a good cross-section of the city asking that we keep the statue. So, I’m going to support keeping it even it means refurbishing it. It seems that Ole’ Kelly should be kept as part of Hermosa’s history.”

The improvements are concentrated in the space at the base of the pier and a portion of The Strand directly west of the pier plaza, the same area where the statue now stands. Tucker knew the city was in the process of putting the pier project out to bid and thought the statue’s face lift could coincide with the pier project.

“I looked at it and thought, ‘We need to do something with this thing.’ I wanted to make sure there was a spot for it based on the pier designs and I thought it could stay in the same area without altering the plans,” added Tucker. “Initially I wanted to look at the city’s budget but with the state in its budget crisis I didn’t want to have to rely on the city for funds. We will probably raise this money privately. I’ve already had about 45 people call me who have expressed an interest in donating funds to the project.”