With still no installation date on the calendar, costs are adding up on the maligned 20-foot Cry Baby Cry statue. The City of Tulsa is now expected to cover at least $20,000 for storing the $250,000 art piece at a Florida storage facility.
Ashley Webb, an attorney who volunteers as chairman of the Sales Tax Overview Committee, informed Tulsa city councilors of these additional expenses during their Aug. 5 meeting.
“Apparently, we’re on the hook for storage costs since January, at $2,500 a month, so that’s $20,000 through this month,” Webb said.
Webb also noted two geotech studies conducted on Cry Baby Hill to help determine the foundation design. One study occurred where the statue was initially proposed at the top of the hill at West 13th Street and South Lawton Avenue, and another at its current proposed location across the street from Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza on Southwest Boulevard at Riverside Drive.
“We don’t have a cost on those geotech studies. Last time I drove by over the weekend, I didn’t see that we had started any construction, so I don’t know what the costs are above the $250,000 (for the statue) and the $20,000 for storage,” Webb said. “But this would continue to appear to be somewhat of an unforced error that has costs that we don’t have a handle on.”
Discovered by Documenters
Tulsa Documenter Khadijat Oluwatoyin noted the unexpected costs for storing the Cry Baby Cry statue during the Aug. 5 Tulsa City Council meeting. Read her meeting notes here and find out more about Tulsa Documenters here.
Lauren Branum is president of the Riverview Neighborhood Association where the statue will eventually go. Neighbors haven’t always been in favor of the statue, but she says they “have accepted that it has to be placed in the planned location.”
“We aren’t excited to see it placed, but there’s no reason to put it off and keep storing it,” she told the Flyer in a text message. “I don’t know what is causing the delay.”
City spokesman Carson Colvin provided the Flyer a copy of the purchase order for the storage, showing a $17,500 payment to Shield Moving Storage and Storage Logistics INC in Miami, Florida. The purchase order will remain in place while the remaining contractual and installation details are finalized with artist Ken Kelleher, Colvin said.
“The City shares in the public’s desire to know when the statue will ultimately be installed and will continue doing everything possible to get this project completed,” reads a statement provided by Colvin Tuesday.
Trying to ‘drill down’ exact costs for storage
The statue was first revealed in August 2024 by then-Mayor G.T. Bynum. In October that year, city leaders announced the statue would be installed alongside a retro-inspired, 50-room hotel built by Sharp Development called Palmera Motor Court. By July 2025, city leaders announced Sharp Development would not be moving forward with the hotel project — but the statue was still a-go.
During the Aug. 5 meeting, District 4 City Councilor Laura Bellis, who represents the Riverview neighborhood, asked Webb if Sharp Development would have covered the costs of storing and installing the statue had their original plan come to fruition. Webb said they are still trying to “drill down” exactly what the city will pay.
District 3 City Councilor Jackie Dutton, who represents northeast Tulsa, asked Webb if there is anything the city can do to “save taxpayers some money.” District 2 Councilor Anthony Archie, who represents west Tulsa, also questioned whether the city could get back the storage costs.
Webb said the city needs to get the statue installed as “quickly as possible” and later stated “it would be nice” if the statue was installed by the next Tulsa Tough “at a minimum.” The cycling festival takes place during the second weekend in June. If the sculpture is in storage at the same facility for the same monthly rate through May 2027, the city would be invoiced an additional $20,000.
Dutton thanked Webb for his report after Assistant City Attorney Caroline Guerra Wolf cautioned councilors of discussing the statue further as it was not included on the meeting’s agenda, though they were allowed to ask clarifying questions.
“Thank you very much for leaving that to the end,” Dutton said. “This is something that we can all cry on our pillows tonight when we get home.”
Councilor suggests investigating storage spending
District 7 City Councilor Lori Decter Wright, who represents southeast Tulsa, said she is astounded at the amount of information the Sales Tax Overview Committee receives that fails to reach councilors.
“Today, we had a discussion about the powers of the council. I think we need to look further into some of the things we’re hearing here, especially as we talk about fiduciary responsibility and cost containment,” Decter Wright said.
She then referenced Tulsa as the “arts, culture and humanities capital of the state.”
“So, when we have ongoing issues like this, couched around public art, whether it’s boulders that were never really for an art project, or an actual art project that now has turned into ongoing costs and bigger questions — I think we have to be really careful about what we’re doing and how we’re doing it,” she said.
Decter Wright said members of city council need to attend the sales tax committee meetings to be more in-the-know about how taxpayer dollars are being spent. Those meetings are 8 a.m. on the fourth Tuesday of every month on the 10th floor of City Hall.
“I just think we, as councilors, are probably going to have to divide and conquer an 8 a.m. Tuesday meeting, so that we can start getting this information sooner, and then go and ask our questions…,” she said. “We actually have the authority to investigate. We also have the authority to ask our staff to go get more information that maybe even you all would benefit from.”
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