Hat-tossing Mary Tyler Moore statue back at Minneapolis site

MINNEAPOLIS — A statue of Mary Tyler Moore tossing her hat in the air is back at its familiar spot in downtown Minneapolis.

A bronze statue of the Emmywinning star of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show’’ was returned Saturday to its original location at Nicollet Mall. The life-sized statue, along with other public art, had been removed during a $50 million mall reconstruction project.

After being temporarily in storage, the statue was set up in the city’s visitor information centre nearby. A hat was available for visitors to toss alongside the statue, which depicts Moore in the opening credits of her popular 1970s TV sitcom set in Minneapolis. Moore died in January at age 80. Gwendolyn Gillen, a Wisconsin artist who created the Moore statue, died two days later at age 76.