City will pay $900,000 for waterfront art

Some called it a rusted steel structure with lights.

Others said it looked like a windmill without a propeller. But most councillors agreed it was art as city council approved the waterfront art installation.

Council approved the $904,000 contract during its regular scheduled meeting at city hall Monday night for the final installment of the waterfront’s public art project, which consists of two beacons – one on Pier 1 and another on Pier 3.

The two 21-metre structures resemble slightly bent poles sticking out of the tips of both piers toward each other.

The beacons, made out of corten steel, will feature LED lights that will flash Morse code of local stories and poetry.

Once someone is within three metres of the beacons, they will be able to hear that literature read by local actors transmitted from the base of the structures.

The instillation is meant to look like the profile of a ship and act as a gateway for the waterfront. It was designed by Eduardo Aquino and Karen Shanski in collaboration with the city’s Public Art Committee and waterfront architect BMI/Pace.

Aquino told council that the structures are meant to capture various traditions from the city while attracting people to the waterfront because they can be seen from so many different vantage points.

"It’s calling me in to the waterfront. It’s an expense that we cannot measure," Aquino said.

But some councillors weren’t so sure.

Mayor Keith Hobbs said he believed too much has already been spent at the waterfront and that the money could be better spent elsewhere.

"I’d rather buy two trash compactors for the landfill site," Hobbs said. "I don’t want people to hate this."

Coun. Joe Viridiramo said even though the money for the instillation has already been budgeted, the city doesn’t have to spend it.

Viridramo added that the whole idea reminds him of other installations such as the "pile of rocks" near the Thunder Bay International Airport that were eventually removed and put into storage at Chippewa Park.

"We have a piece of angle iron that’s going to go up 65 feet and it’s going to rust and it’s going to have lights on it," Viridiramo said.

But Aquino said the material doesn’t rust. It eventually develops a patina over time that protects it and adds to the overall visual of the piece.

Coun. Paul Pugh said although when he first saw the piece it looked like a windmill without a propeller, the committee did a great job and the project fell within the city’s guidelines and budget.

Over time, Pugh said he believes people will enjoy what the city has done.

"I’m not an artist and on first looking at this I said ‘good grief," Pugh said. "But that’s the function of art. It makes you think."

Art is in the eye of the beholder, said Coun, Rebecca Johnson. While the at-large councilor said she doesn’t like to spend extra money, the installation is good for the community.

"Whether you like the beacons or not only time is going to tell."

All art throughout history has been controversial, Aquino said. Even the Eiffel Tower in Paris was supposed to be temporary and people thought it was ugly.

"At the end of the day we are confident that (the beacons) will make an iconic approach.”