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Committee weighs repairs to 'Jewel Box' bus shelter and Russell Dittick lighting; quotes and timeline discussed
Summary
Committee staff reported vandalism and deterioration at the 'Jewel Box' bus-shelter artwork and presented a quote to replace conduit and lighting for the Russell Dittick piece, with costs and timing under discussion.
Portland Public Art Committee staff told members the committee’s outdoor collection needs active repair: the Jewel Box bus-shelter artwork along Congress Street faces persistent vandalism and glass-panel deterioration, and the Russell Dittick lighting requires conduit replacement.
Sean, city staff, reported heritage-conservation and maintenance details. For the Jewel Box, he said the committee has obtained one conservation quote from Taggart Conservation Objects and that a past replacement estimate for glass was “upwards of $1,000 per … panel”; three panels currently show acid-etch graffiti and the committee continues to explore cleaning alternatives and replacement options.
On the Russell Dittick piece, Sean said the group obtained a quote of up to $9,850 from an electrical service provider to replace conduit and re-install lighting. More than half of that estimate is excavation; the parks department offered to perform trenching and backfill in kind, which staff said would save roughly $5,500 and reduce the city’s contracted electrical work to under $5,000. Sean said the quoted electrical contractor, Casco Bay Electric, is an on-call, preferred vendor for the city. He also displayed a site estimate listing $4,800 for trenching and backfill and a separate unit line of $35.60 for installation labor and fixture work as presented in the bid packet.
Committee members asked for additional competitive quotes before authorizing payment. Sean said he has reached out to other contractors and will provide comparable quotes by the next meeting. He also said the parks crews indicated they could schedule the excavation within two weeks. The committee discussed scheduling the excavation work to align with the next meeting and noted a formal vote would be required to appropriate public-art funds to pay the contractor for electrical work.
Members agreed to continue soliciting quotes, coordinate scheduling with parks crews, and bring a funding appropriation vote to the committee at a future meeting once comparable estimates are in hand.
Other conservation items (birdhouses and brick replacements) had no updates.
