75¢ November 13, 2012
lampasasdispatchrecord.com
WEATHER Date Nov. 8 Nov. 9 Nov. 10 Nov. 11
High Low 81 50 81 64 81 63 79 54
Rain
2012 rainfall to date: 20.02 inches. Same date last year: 11.44 inches. Normal through this date: 28.70 inches. Data from Lampasas Municipal Airport through National Weather Service.
BRIEFLY Library movie “Brave” will be shown at the Lampasas Public Library on Saturday at 2 p.m. Admission is free, and popcorn and drinks will be available for a donation. Participants are requested to bring a non-perishable food item for the library’s food drive to benefit Lampasas Mission.
Hope Boxes Battle for a Cure Foundation board members will be at the Lampasas Walmart on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to accept toys and cash donations to fill Hope Boxes given to children fighting cancer and their siblings. To sponsor a Hope Box or to donate funds, stop by the booth, go to www.battle4acure.org, phone 734-1500, or visit www. facebook.com/battle4acure.
Key Avenue construction nearly done By DAVID LOWE Staff Writer Key Avenue is poised to be free of construction activity for the first time since a $7.2 million project began in January 2011. Nearly all work on the rebuilding of the highway has been completed, and a final inspection before Thanksgiving will mark the official end of the project, Texas Department of Transportation public information officer Darah Waldrip said. Travel lanes are open, crews have painted new lines on the highway, and signal lights are functioning at Key Avenue intersections. Only a few cleanup items and some minor repairs, like fixing sidewalk cracks caused by heavy equipment, remain to be done, Ms. Waldrip said. “I think to your average driver it’s much, much better than it has been in the last year or so,” she said. Work proceeded in stages across the approximately one-mile-long construction area. Traffic lanes in some areas were closed for weeks at a time on one side of Key Avenue before construction shifted to the other side of the highway. The end of TxDOT’s work on Key Avenue should allow patrons of Lampasas businesses to resume using
normal entry points for buildings along the highway. Mayor Jerry Grayson said he has not heard complaints in the last few weeks about business access. Traffic flow has improved because of the new lights on Key Avenue, Grayson said, and he said shoppers now have an easier time getting to stores than they did when some lanes of the highway were closed. The reconstruction of Key Avenue, Grayson said, has enhanced the appearance of Lampasas’ main thoroughfare. Several people who travel through Lampasas, the mayor said, have told Grayson the city looks more attractive now that Key Avenue has been rebuilt. “Overall I think it’s been a real good project,” Grayson said. “We’re just glad it’s done.” As construction on Key nears official completion, Ledcor CMI Inc. continues its work on a $3.2 million TxDOT project on East Fourth Street. Activities include drainage improvements, lighting installation, curb and gutter work, and repaving. Fourth Street is closed from Sulphur Creek to Pecan Street, and work will proceed in a block-by-block fashion westward to Key Avenue. Estimated completion time for the Fourth Street reconstruction is December 2013.
Fourth Street East Fourth Street will remain closed from Sulphur Creek to Pecan Street until early January, the Texas Department of Transportation has announced. During Fourth Street closures, drivers may use Central Texas Expressway (U.S. Highway 190) and Key Avenue for detours. The project includes pavement grading and surfacing, curb and gutter work, and the installation of storm drains and lighting.
TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION BETTER NEWSPAPER CONTEST
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Former LISD official dies Sam Potts, former assistant superintendent for the Lampasas Independent School District, died Nov. 11, 2012. Visitation is today from 6-8 p.m. at Sneed Funeral Chapel. A graveside service is Wednesday at 2 p.m. at Oak Hill Cemetery. A complete story will run in Friday’s edition.
PHOTO BY HAROLD HARTON
Longtime local photographer and businessman Harold Harton took this photo of Key Avenue, where a Texas Department of Transportation reconstruction project is nearly complete. The view, taken from the south side of town, shows the resurfaced thoroughfare -- where U.S. Highways 183, 190 and 281 intersect -- all the way to businesses on the north end of Lampasas. The project has cost about $7.2 million to date, and includes new paving, drainage improvements, new sidewalks and updated traffic lights.
Artist repairs damage to ‘Springs’ sculpture
Open house First State Bank of Burnet will hold its traditional Thanksgiving Open House Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at its 800 S. Key Ave. building. Holiday refreshments will be served, and the public is invited.
Volume 107 — Number 91
By LISA CARNLEY Staff Writer
When vandals wreaked havoc on art pieces at Hanna Springs Sculpture Park in June, it gave pause to members of the Lampasas Association for the Arts. But not for long. And it didn’t dampen the group’s enthusiasm, as members immediately set out to put the park back to rights again. “Portal to the Springs,” a sculpture by David Hickman of Dallas, is the most recent piece to receive repairs. One of the founding sculptures in the park, it was carved on site in 2005, and took Hickman two weeks to complete. It took vandals just one night to gouge chinks out of several sculptures, bend metal pieces on others, scratch tiles and completely destroy one piece that had to be removed when it was deemed beyond repair. “Portal to the Springs” was carved from two 10,000-pound blocks of limestone donated by Mezger Enterprises of Kempner. Lines running through the piece represent water, and a weather vane represents the stars and the moon. Holes in the portal represent a passageway to the springs. Hickman’s statue sustained more than $1,500 in damages when vandals used the metal weather vane to swing from, which broke off the arm suspended above the statue, said Nancy Gray, LAFTA president. Hickman and several city of Lampasas Parks and Recreation department workers labored for several hours soldering the piece early last week. “And it should be stronger now that it is fixed,” said the artist. “Lost in Wisconsin,” a piece donated to the sculpture garden by artist Nic Noblique of Appleton, PHOTO BY LISA CARNLEY Wisc., in memory of Lampasas Dallas artist David Hickman welds his art piece “Portal to the Springs” at the Hanna Springs resident Stephanie Gradel, was Sculpture Park. The arm of the sculpture was bent when vandals damaged a number of removed from the park when it was deemed unsafe and unrepairable pieces at the park in June. Related photos may be found on page 10.
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after vandalism. Valued at over $30,000, the city applied for an insurance claim, and a settlement has made it possible for a new sculpture to be created in place of “Lost in Wisconsin.” “Nic made the new piece larger than the previous one as his donation in honor of Stephanie,” Ms. Gray said. The sculpture has been completed and is in the process of being powder-coated to keep the colors vibrant and protect it from rust. Ms. Gray said it should be ready to place in the sculpture garden around the end of this month. Plans are in the works for a celebration when the new piece is installed, she said. And in April, a new round of sculptures will be installed in the park, and several “visiting” pieces will be removed, said the LAFTA president. Those earmarked to leave the rotating exhibit include “Mother and Child,” “Rolling Dancing Moon,” “Unbundled” and “Lemon Squeezer.” “We like to keep bringing in new sculptures because it keeps the park fresh,” Ms. Gray said. “And people still enjoy seeing those that are a part of the permanent exhibit.” To date, 14 sculptures have become permanent additions to the garden and surrounding city parks. Ms. Gray said thousands of hours of work have been put in and a lot of money spent on the local sculpture park, which was dedicated in July 2005. “And we just want people to keep coming out here and to enjoy what Lampasas has to offer,” she said. “Arts provide a vital part of our daily lives. “The sculpture garden and the events held in it are just one way of providing a wonderful environment to experience the art in its many forms.”
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