A piece of public art is set to be erected in the Plateau next week, 40 years after its predecessor was torn down amid accusations of censorship towards city hall – accusations being echoed towards the current mayor.

A reclining cross, designed by artists Pierre Ayot, once sat in front of McGill University, but it didn’t last long.

Longtime resident Michael Hendricks remembered how in 1976, just before Montreal would host the Olympic Games, then-Mayor Jean Drapeau ordered 16 large works of art torn down.

“For us, it was a shock,” he said. “It was so beautiful.”

“It was done in the night, a sneaky dirty trick and that was the end of it,” he added. “The artists weren’t respected, nobody was respected.”

At the time, Drapeau called the artworks “indecent” because some of them criticized overspending on the Olympics.

“It was because he disliked the work by the artists in those days that were exhibited on Sherbrooke St.,” said Nicolas Mavrikakis, an independent art curator.

The removal of the art resulted in accusations of censorship towards Drapeau and similar accusations are now being thrown at Mayor Denis Coderre.

Curators, including Mavrikakis, and Plateau borough officials said they spent two years arranging for a replica of Ayot’s work to be installed at the corner of Park and Pine, but recently Coderre’s office withdrew a $10,000 subsidy, saying the project lacked “social acceptability.”

“They said ‘Oh, no, no, no, the money is not there anymore,” said Mavrikakis. “We were very surprised that less than a week before the conscription of the cross, there was a problem.”

Projet Montreal city councillor Christine Gosselin said she believes the mayor thought the cross would be offensive to nearby nuns.

“The nuns are elderly,” said Gosselin. “They’re really cool and Mayor Coderre created a problem where there is none.”

While the mayor’s office has offered to free up the money, Plateau officials have declined, saying it would pay by setting up a crowd funding site to pay for the piece, which will be 13 metres long and nine metres high, and will lie in the shadow of Mount Royal.

“It reminded me of Mayor Drapeau, he behaved in exactly the same way,” said Hendricks.