The Pittsburgh Pirates debuted a new bronze fan message display, ostensibly ending a nearly yearlong controversy over discarded Bucco Bricks.

On Tuesday, the Pirates officially unveiled a permanent commemorative display of 60 5-foot-high bronze panels on PNC Park’s facade at West General Robinson Street and Mazeroski Way. The bronze panels display more than 10,000 personalized fan messages that originally appeared on commemorative bricks embedded in the sidewalk outside the North Shore stadium.

“We know how much these messages and memories mean to our fans,” Pirates President Travis Williams said in a news release. “By moving to a vertical bronze display, we are preserving the spirit of the original program in a way that is easier to experience and built to last.”

The release stated bronze plaques are a “more durable and sustainable way to display the messages” and preserve them long term. The display’s vertical design also “allows fans to find, view and photograph these cherished messages and memories more easily.”

On Tuesday, Williams explained that fans’ messages were preserved before the original Bucco Bricks were scrapped.

“We were able to put them on the bronze plaques in exactly the same format with the same messages that were there on the bricks originally,” he said.

Asked about the cost to build the new display, Williams said, “We don’t talk about the dollar amounts related to these projects. Suffice it to say, it was an expensive project, but one that was well worth it.”

Last April, the original Bucco Bricks, which Pirates fans purchased through a program begun in 1999, were spotted at a recycling center for construction debris. Many of the bricks memorialized family members, drawing frustration and outrage from fans. In response, the Pirates issued a statement saying the bricks were removed from the sidewalk because of deterioration and other factors, noting they’d been replaced three times before.

A report commissioned in May by Pittsburgh’s Sports and Exhibition Authority, which owns and leases PNC Park, found the Pirates had unilaterally decided to dispose of the bricks without notifying their buyers or any authorities. Williams and Bob Nutting, Pirates owner and board chairman, had previously apologized for how the bricks were removed.

Then, in July, the team also said it was planning to install a new bronze plaque display featuring messages from the old bricks.

Pittsburgh-based sign-maker Matthews International Architectural Products manufactured the new bronze panels with a design developed by MLB architect and urban planner Janet-Marie Smith.

Williams said the new display is intended to preserve the original brick program, and fans are not currently able to purchase space for new messages.

“We’re not looking to add at this point in time,” he said. “Maybe there will be another program similar to it. But this is really important to these fans who put these messages in the bricks.”