New York quarry granite used to build new wall near Obie bronze statue in Massillon

• A 25 foot granite wall is now installed behind the bronze Obie statue in downtown Massillon.
• The project was funded by an anonymous donor.
• Project organizers said the wall requires no maintenance and should last forever.

MASSILLON – A granite wall has been installed around the bronze Obie statue in downtown.

The 25-foot wall is the last piece in the project that brought the Massillon Tigers' beloved mascot to the center of town at Lincoln Way E and First Street NE next to Benders Food & Spirits.

The 1,000-pound, 8-foot sculpture was installed in the summer of 2022 ahead of football season.

The Obie statue, through a donation from an anonymous benefactor, was created by Zanesville artist Alan Cottrill. It features the mascot wearing a letter "M" on his sweater and carrying a football in his left arm while his left leg is extended and his tail dances behind.

Former school board member John Paquelet along with his father, Dr. Charles Paquelet, a 1952 Washington High School alum, helped spearhead the project.

Massillon downtown Obie project

The wall was the last piece of the project, the younger Paquelet said.

"It took a while to source the stone," he said. They also had to secure someone willing to install the wall.

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The stone was sourced from the Adirondack Natural Stone quarry in Whitehall, N.Y. It was delivered late last year and was housed behind the former Elum Music until installation. The pieces were precut at the quarry, Paquelet said.

Workers from Orange Cone Construction, a division of Massillon Washed Gravel of Massillon, recently began installing the pieces. Before installing the wall, gravel placed in the wall's footer area had to be removed and a concrete footer poured. The gravel was installed to help minimize slips and falls and uneven surfaces until the project was completed, he said.

The wall is3-to-4 feet tall and runs along the back of the statue facing the north and west. The granite wall features a full-length granite bench and pillars. Three blocks were placed in front of the statue. Paquelet said the stones serve as protection and visiting guests can sit or stand on them.

"They can use them to take pictures with Obie but it is a deterrent for accidents," he said.

The wall underwent a thermal-heat treatment that Paquelet describes as roughing up the surface to reduce the slickness.

No maintenance is required for the wall and it should last forever, he added.

Obie's history in Massillon Tiger lore

Charles Paquelet said he wants to see a plaque added to the bench to identify Obie. He is exploring options to provide more information to visitors, possibly via QR codes.

"How did Obie get its name?" Paquelet said. "And why is Massillon football important?"

Viola Black won a 1962 contest to name a papier mâché version of the Tiger mascot. Black took the school's colors - orange and black - and came up with the name Obie.

"Obie has taken many forms over the years," the elder Paquelet said. "It was a student dressed in a genuine Tiger skin costume, there were live tiger cubs and there were the artists' drawings. The one we have today first appeared in the 1940 football program, and that is the inspiration for the statue."

Paquelet also wants to tell the story of Massillon football.

"Canton's legacy is it is where the National Football League was formed. Our legacy came with Paul Brown in 1932," he said. "When he came everything changed."

Brown's innovation and coaching led the Tigers to have phenomenal success on the field, Paquelet said.

Today, most football teams have adopted Brown's techniques as standard. He credits Brown with bringing pageantry to the game when Red Bird came to town and substituted lively swing music for military marches. Bird put a drum major with majorettes, replacing the military-style bands that included precision drills.

"He had a student in tiger skin following the band on the field and the 'Tiger Rag' became the fight song," he said. "The band was a prototype for bands we know today."

"Football we know today - its birthplace was Massillon. Those are two stories I want to tell."

Reach Amy at 330-775-1335 or amy.knapp@indeonline.com.