CELORON – A little love was thrown at “Scary Lucy” on Saturday morning when the Celoron Village Board unanimously voted to keep the now-infamous statue of Lucille Ball in the greater Jamestown area.

The board mulled over a handful of options, including a proposal by the Comedy Central TV program “@midnight” to send the bronze figure to their studio in California.

“We’ve had all kinds of offers, including cash offers and swaps, but some people don’t want it to leave the area, being that it’s a part of our local history right now,” said Scott Schrecengost, Celoron mayor.

No decisions were made on where the statue will eventually rest, but the village trustees agreed to hear a presentation from Tom Benson, chairman of the National Comedy Center, during the next regular board meeting on April 27. The comedy center is being built behind the Jamestown Gateway Train Station and is slated for completion in August 2016.

Other options were turned down by the board, including returning the statue to Jetta and Mark Wilson, who donated the sculpture to the village in 2009 after acquiring it from artist Dave Poulin as part of a business deal.

A proposal to put the sculpture in front of the comedian’s childhood home on Lucy Lane was quickly turned down by trustees citing security issues in the residential area.

The village board also agreed that the controversial statue would remain in Lucille Ball Memorial Park in Celoron until a new statue was made to replace it.

Schrecengost also announced that he is forming a special committee of artists to help consider the proposals that have poured in from sculptors across the country in recent weeks, and to guide the board in the selection process of a new statue. He plans to appoint five members to the proposed committee and is asking interested parties to contact the board if they want to volunteer.

One point of contention discussed by the board is what pose would be selected for the new statue when it’s cast. Schrecengost said that will be up to the committee and the board to decide, but he added that he favored a “nicer” resemblance of the beloved comedian rather than the current figure whose likes have been overwhelmingly dissed on the national stage.

The fate of the 400-pound statue has evolved over the weeks as board members considered various options that involved either fixing or replacing the sculpture that was placed in the park bearing the comedian’s name in Celoron six years ago.

The online Kickstarter fundraising campaign that began on April 9 marked the decision to have a new statue made rather than repair the present sculpture, and according to the mayor, nearly 50 different sculptors have come forward to express an interest in creating a new figure that will bear a stronger resemblance to the beloved actress.

Artist Dave Poulin had reportedly offered to redo the figure, but the offer came with a price tag of between $8,000 and $10,000, according to the mayor. But once the story went viral, Poulin changed his mind and announced he’d redo the statue for free, telling the Hollywood Reporter he “believed it to be by far my most unsettling sculpture, not befitting of Lucy’s beauty or my ability as a sculptor.”

Trustee Mary Keeney read an email sent to her from Jetta Wilson during Saturday’s special board meeting, who along with her husband, donated the statue to the village. In the email, Wilson said she wanted the record set straight that the couple did not want the “grimace face” from the Vitameatavegamin Lucy episode to appear on the statue to begin with.

“We told him (Paulin) to change the face and make it with beautiful eyes and cheekbones, closed mouth, lovely lips and a feminine chin and jawline, and (we told him this) repeatedly before it was cast” Wilson wrote. “But our approval was not allowed as promised.”

“A lot of people don’t know the real story,” Keenan said, referring to reports that claim the statue had been commissioned. “We’ve got to get the real story out there.”

The statue’s fate was in contention this past week after representatives of the Comedy Central TV program “@midnight” expressed an interest in having the statue donated to the show’s studio in Los Angeles, where, according to representatives, the original I Love Lucy shows were filmed before a live audience. In exchange for the statue, they had agreed to help promote the village’s online fundraising campaign that now seeks to raise money to have the statue replaced.

As of last night, the Kickstarter program had raised a lackluster $426 of its $20,000 goal, with 51 more days left for donations before the campaign ends.

The Lucy statue story has become a national and international conversation, the subject of a skit on “Saturday Night Live,” and the punchline in hundreds of blogs, news articles, YouTube videos and Tweets.

Mayor Schrecengost said he’s fielded dozens of calls since the story went viral and has appeared on radio and television shows across the country and as far away as Australia.

“Who would have ever thought this could happen?” asked a local resident at the meeting, referring to the worldwide sensation the statue has caused since a Facebook posting fanned the flames of discontent several weeks ago.

Schrecengost was considering an invitation Saturday from the producers of “Sunday Morning” at CBS.

“But it’s dying down now finally,” he said, “and that’s a good thing.”

Artists interested in serving on the committee should contact the Celoron Village Board at 488-0579. To make a donation to the building of a new statue: Lucy Statue, Village of Celoron, NY, P.O. Box 577, Celoron, NY 14720-0577; Five Star Bank, 284 E. Fairmount Ave., Lakewood, NY 14750 – or any branch of Five Star Bank; or online at www.kickstarter.com, with the project title of “Lucille Ball Tribute Statue, Celoron NY.”