A discussion on the maintenance of the sculptures in Cattlemen’s Square was held during the Okeechobee City Council’s May 19 meeting.
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OKEECHOBEE — A discussion on the maintenance of the sculptures in Cattlemen’s Square was held during the Okeechobee City Council’s May 19 meeting.
Angie Griffin, from Mainstreet, gave the council an update on the park and raised the subject of maintenance. She said the sculptures were beginning to look a little rough, and she reached out to the artist. “He told us to use a specific wax,” she explained. “We had someone do that, and it cost about $3,500 to do it.”
Unfortunately, they looked even worse a few months later. They reached out to some art foundries for opinions. Bronze Art Foundry keeps up the sculptures in The Villages. Those sculptures are made from the same materials and by the same artist as the ones in Cattlemen’s Square.
That company and another came to Okeechobee to look at the sculptures to bid on maintenance. The bid from Bronze Art Foundry was $17,460. For this amount, they would strip all the old wax off the 10 sculptures and then reapply a UV protectant. They planned to use a chemical substance to strip the wax, but she said Mainstreet was advised not to go that route.
The bid from Olin 1 Welding was $11,000, and Mainstreet paid for that using leftover money from the Cattlemen’s Square fund.
There is, however, annual maintenance needed and will involve a new UV wax coating. This is estimated at about $6,000. The sculptures are beginning to pit which is thought to be from the water or from dust coming off the roads. She recommended they keep this yearly maintenance in mind when they decide if they will put sculptures in Veterans Park.
Mayor Dowling Watford said he was shocked by this information and asked if the Statue of Liberty was waxed every year. Councilman David McAuley said they just did an overhaul on that statue recently.
Griffin said Mainstreet welcomes any input from the council, and Mayor Watford asked if some of them could take part in the next meeting with Olin 1. She agreed and asked Frank DeCarlo said he would make sure all sprinklers were lowered so they did not hit the sculptures.
“I just wanted to bring that to your attention,” said Griffin. “Just so we know what we are dealing with in the future.”
