ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILLBOARD CRUMBLES FROM WATER DAMAGE
By Christopher Loh/ Staff Writer
Watertown TAB & Press, MA
April 24 2006
A billboard at 160 Arsenal St., promoting awareness of the April 1915
Armenian Genocide, looked as though it had been vandalized, as a large
section in the middle was torn from the top all the way to the bottom.
However, Watertown Police said it doesn’t appear to have been
vandalism.
The billboard’s collapse couldn’t have happened at a worse time,
because this past weekend was the 91st Anniversary Commemoration of
the Armenian Genocide.
The billboard’s condition was reported to the Watertown Police
Department on Saturday, April 22, at 5 p.m.
Police said Clear Channel, who owns the billboard, investigated the
matter Monday morning, but found no evidence of foul play.
Lois Catanzaro, director of public affairs for Clear Channel, said
company representatives had gone to the site, and believed the damage
was caused by water.
Daniel Hejinian, a representative of Peace of Art, the company who
owned the advertisement, said the cause of the damage could be many
things, and that Peace of Art is looking to replace the billboard
with another concerning the Armenian Genocide.
The representatives removed the remaining remnants of the
billboard. Currently an old United States Navy advertisement is
displayed.
Police are still investigating the matter.