PORTLAND – The City Council voted to accept bronze statues to be placed outside the Portland Sea Dogs’ ball park depicting a family going to a baseball game, capping a two-week public debate about the role of public art.

Council members voted unanimously Monday night to accept the gift from Daniel Burke, owner of the Portland Sea Dogs minor league baseball team.

The decision came after the city’s public art committee voted to turn down the offer, saying the manner in which the statues were offered violated the city’s process for receiving public art. Committee members said the statues violated city codes because they showed Sea Dog logos on the boy’s hat and shirt, and some questioned whether they accurately reflected the city’s growing diversity.

After a two-hour debate on Monday, councilors decided to accept the statues.

“I will vote to accept this gift because I think it’s the right artist, on the right subject matter, at the right place,” said Mayor James Cohen. “We should appreciate [the gift] for the spirit with which it was intended.”

The statues depict a man, a boy, and a woman holding a little girl on their way to a Sea Dogs game. The Burke family planned for the statues, which will be ready for delivery within two months, to stand in front of Hadlock Field, a city-owned facility.

The art committee’s objections to the gift set off an emotional public debate. Nearly 4,000 people voiced their opinion on the issue in an online survey at MaineToday.com, with the overwhelming majority saying the statues were appropriate.

Ten people, including several local artists and three members of the art committee, urged the council not to accept the statues. They said there was still time to work with Burke and New York artist Rhoda Sherbell to come up with a product that fell within city codes and guidelines.