YOUNGSTOWN - Ground has been broken for an iconic statue that will be placed right in Downtown Youngstown.

Brock and Associates Builders, based in North Lima, will serve as the general contractor to create the foundation for the Robinson-Shuba Statue to be placed in The Wean Foundation Park.

"We are very excited and proud to be a part of this statue project and everything the Robinson-Shuba handshake meant for baseball and for the country," said Brian Brock, president of the company. "We're also glad to see so many improvements taking shape in downtown Youngstown."

There will also be concrete walkways and seating to support programming at the memorial.

The unveiling of the Robinson-Shuba statue had been set for April 18, the 75th anniversary of the 1946 handshake it celebrates, but that was postponed because of COVID-19.

A new date will be announced next month.

The handshake of Jackie Robinson, the first African American in mainstream professional baseball, and George "Shotgun" Shuba, his white teammate from Youngstown, was a landmark moment in the integration of baseball and, eventually, much of American life.

The circumstances around the handshake were significant. Robinson had just hit a three-run home run in his debut game with the Montreal Royals, an affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

As he rounded third base and headed home, neither of the teammates who scored on the hit were waiting at home to congratulate him. Shuba, the batter waiting on deck, noticed this, so he hustled up to home plate to shake Robinson's hand.