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This famous Newark statue will be rededicated on a grassy area at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. The statue is called the "First Landing Party of the Founders of Newark." It is one of four statues in Newark created by Gutzon Borglum, a noted American sculptor and artist known for his work at Mount Rushmore. The statue has been on a city owned lot at Newark's division of traffic and signals since 2002.

(Aris Economopoulos)

Newark has a famous statue that's been missing from the city's public art landscape for more than a decade.

It's 9 feet tall and weighs about 13,000 plus pounds. You may remember reading about its sad condition two years ago in this column.

The "First Landing Party of the Founders of Newark" was flat on its back underneath a badly worn tarp. It looked like a piece of junk on a city-owned lot at Newark's division of traffic signals.

No one could tell that it was one of four important statues in Newark created by Gutzon Borglum, a famous sculptor and artist best known for his work at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

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The marble base was detached and the pallet underneath the statue was sitting in water between a dumpster and old traffic signals.

We'll get to how it got that way, but the good news is that the statute will be upright this summer on the same grounds from which it was removed 19 years ago.

"It was something that had to be done, and the timing is right,'' said Liz Del Tufo, president of the Newark Preservation and Landmark Committee.

A famous Newark statue will be rededicated on the grassy area beyond this archway at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. The statue is called the "First Landing Party of the Founders of Newark."

As the city prepares for its 350th anniversary, Del Tufo said it makes historical sense to rededicate the statue at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.

She said it was first dedicated in 1916 for the city's 250th anniversary and located in same place where NJPAC stands now. Facing the Passaic River, the statue was erected in Landing Place Park on Saybrook Place near McCarter Highway.

The statue's journey home began after the committee read my story about the pathetic state of the artwork. Del Tufo and Richard Grossklaus, a member of the Newark Landmark and Historic Commission, began a letter-writing campaign seeking funds to restore the statue and find a home for it.

Luckily for Del Tufo, the Newark Celebration 350 Committee had formed to commemorate the city's founding. After Del Tufo made her pitch, Chairman Junius Williams said the committee agreed to raise $20,000 for the restoration through a campaign to fund legacy projects that will live beyond the city's 350th anniversary.

On May 3, Williams said, the Newark committee will participate in a nationwide "Give Local America'' drive to fund work on the statue, as well as three other projects. Contributions can be made through the website www.newark350give.org

"We're pretty confident that we'll raise all of the money, or most of the money, to restore and resurrect this important landmark for the city of Newark,'' Williams said.

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The statue is still on the property of the city's division of traffic and signals, but, Del Tufo said, it's better secured than it was two years go.

Once it is moved -- and she hopes that's soon -- Del Tufo said the homecoming ceremony will take place on a grassy area at NJPAC.

"We're happy to have it back where it belongs with a good view of the river,'' said John Schreiber, president and chief executive officer of NJPAC.

Everyone is excited about it, from Newark City Council President Mildred Crump to John Abeigon, president of the Newark Teachers Union.

Abeigon used to see the statue all the time in Lombardy Park while driving along McCarter Highway. That's where it was taken sometime before or after NJPAC opened in 1997.

The statue stayed there until about 2002 and was moved again when New Jersey Transit began construction of its light rail system. How it wound up at the division of traffic and signals is where memories get sketchy.

No one can say for sure who moved it to the division's lot, but that's where it has been ever since. At some point, the statue fell over and separated from its base, possibly from the weight pressing on the wooden pallet.

On the front of the statue's marble fountain, there are images representing the city's founders and two Puritans peering over a well or a spring. The backside lists the names of city founders.

The statue is listed on state and national historical registers as are the other three Borglum statues that are located in Newark and are not nearly has hard to find as "First Landing Party."

The "Indian and the Puritan'' is at Washington Park, "Wars of America" is the centerpiece of Military Park, and the "Seated Lincoln'' is in front of the Essex County Court House.

Tom Ankner, a reference librarian at the Newark Public Library, said relocating the monument in the area of NJPAC is appropriate because it's close to where the founding Puritans came ashore from the Passaic River.

"We don't really know exactly where they came ashore, but it was always thought that it was somewhere near where the FBI building and New Jersey Performing Arts Center is now,'' said Ankner, who works in the library's Charles Cummings New Jersey Information Center.

"I think it's a fantastic and wonderful way to commemorate the 350th anniversary.''

Welcome back "First Landing Party." You've been gone too long. Newark's public art scene is that much better having you on the map again.

Barry Carter: (973) 836-4925 or bcarter@starledger.com or nj.com/carter or follow him on Twitter @BarryCarterSL