WORCESTER, Mass. - A new statue commemorating the efforts of Irish immigrants is coming to Worcester.

A statue of Tobias Boland and Benjamin Wright will stand as part of the water component honoring the Blackstone Canal in Rockland Trust Plaza on Green Street.

The canal was critical in the city's development. 

Boland was an Irish immigrant credited with building the canal in the early 1800s. Wright was an engineer who designed the specifications for the canal. 

“That statue is going to be on the other side of the canal replica and pointing right there to what will soon be a restored building that the (Ancient Order of Hibernians) runs,” City Manager Ed Augustus explained on Monday. “And this front part will be used as a museum where, you know, a lot of Irish history and Irish immigrants who dug the canal, and we’ll be able to pay homage to them and appreciate the role in developing the city of Worcester.”

The statue will be created by sculptor Robert Shure. It will be up within a year.