Lake Street 'Portage' sculpture contract delayed while footing costs are estimated

Committee members reported they have not executed the contract for the Lake Street Park sculpture “Portage” because the original budget expectation was that the artist’s fee would cover all installation costs, including footings. Parks staff will provide a materials estimate for the footings so the committee can confirm funding before executing the contract.

Speaker 2 said the required footings are sonotubes roughly 2–3 feet in diameter and about 5 feet deep; the parks foreman (Kirk) will provide a cost estimate for materials and the committee does not expect to pay labor. The artist is concerned about tariffs and potential steel price increases, so committee members said expediting the estimate and contract execution is a priority.

The committee discussed an opening event for the park and artwork. Staff suggested early June as a target and proposed a short press event of 15–20 minutes with invited media and brief remarks by the mayor, parks chair and arts chair; June 6 at about 3–4 p.m. was proposed as a possible date but members said they would confirm availability with the parks director and the artist before finalizing.

Members also discussed where to site future half‑percent for art projects and noted constraints tied to TIF districts and allowable uses; they asked the half‑percent working group to identify potential candidate locations and to consider collecting multi‑year funding if desired. Replacement for a departing member on the half‑percent working group will be needed and the committee asked interested members to send location suggestions to Sebastian.