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After a nearly four-year hiatus, the statue of Giants Hall of Famer Willie McCovey has returned to the public eye on the shores of San Francisco Bay as crews finish work on China Basin Park, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Following outcry from fans, the San Francisco Giants quickly reversed course Saturday on their plan to replace the commemorative bricks originally laid next to the Willie McCovey statue beyond right field with a digital kiosk that would have displayed the messages originally inscribed on the bricks.
Shana Daum, the vice president of communications, said in a text message that the organization “will explore multiple options that will work in the new park to showcase the tile messages,” but that they will not take the form of the digital kiosk, which upset fans who paid for a physical commemoration.
Set to open in time for the Giants’ home opener Friday, the new China Basin Park connected to the Mission Rock development will feature a reinstalled McCovey statue but not the bricks that accompanied it until construction began in 2020. The original bricks were destroyed, Daum said, but their messages were preserved.
The original plan, announced in a Thursday email to fans who originally purchased the bricks, was to transfer the messages to a digital kiosk that would be on display in the park. However, the organization received swift backlash from fans who paid between $95 and $250 in 2002 to fund upgrades to the ballpark.
Within hours of the San Francisco Chronicle reporting fans’ dismay, the organization switched course.
“We heard from our passionate and loyal fans,” Daum said.
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