Public Sculpture Commission asks Newport council to endorse moving Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt memorial to Bellevue Avenue

The newly formed Newport Public Sculpture Commission asked the City Council to endorse a plan to restore and relocate the Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt memorial from its present position on Broadway to a site in front of Empire Tea & Coffee on Bellevue Avenue.

Federico Santi, chair of the commission, reviewed the memorial’s history, described decades of vandalism and plumbing removal, and explained that restoring the fountain would require either purchasing the original granite plinth—currently with an antique dealer—or commissioning a new base at considerable cost. Santi said the commission and the Empire property owner have expressed support for the proposed relocation and that the move would require council endorsement before state permission could be sought.

Santi outlined steps the commission has taken, including outreach to neighborhood groups and the Tree and Open Space Commission, and showed renderings of the proposed siting. Councilors asked whether the memorial could be restored in place; Santi said restoration on the current site is impractical because utility access and tree canopy limit plumbing and drainage work. Several councilors endorsed the commission’s goal while noting that if the memorial is moved the panel should consider a replacement or neighborhood‑focused commemorative element at the original site.

The item was presented as a communication rather than an action item; the council voted to receive the communication and did not take a binding vote to relocate the monument at this meeting.