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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2015
Vol. CXXIV, No. 218
OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE CITY OF TACOMA Devoted to the Courts, Real Estate, Finance, Industrial Activities, and Publication of Legal Notices
Published Published Since Since 1890 1890
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Safety concerns force Tacoma to remove aging art installation downtown
Posted online Fri., Nov. 6 By Todd Matthews, Editor The City of Tacoma is accepting bids on a project to remove and dispose of a downtown art installation created nearly 40 years ago by a prominent Pacific Northwest artist. The wall-mounted Untitled (Concrete Sculpture) (pictured) was commissioned by Bob Price Architecture Co. and created by Harold Balazs in 1976 as part of a courtyard fountain at the Bicentennial Pavilion located near South 13th Street and Market Street. Balazs's work is on display throughout Washington State, including Riverfront Park in Spokane; the Federal Building in downtown Seattle; the Temple Beth El synagogue building in Tacoma; and the former Puget Sound Bank (now KeyBank) in University Place. Five years ago, University of Washington Press published a book about Balazs that coincided with exhibits of his work at museums in Spokane, Pullman, and La Conner. A City staff report prepared earlier this year notes the artwork is "unstable and poses a safety hazard. Conservation consultant Lynda Rockwood reviewed the artwork in 2008 and recommended it for deaccession. She found the structural and surface conditions
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of the artwork to be unstable, and deemed it a public safety hazard. In addition, the artwork was not commissioned by the Tacoma Arts Commission, and there is no formal contract on record." The Tacoma Arts Commission voted in April to deaccession the artwork. "People were climbing it," said City of Tacoma Arts
Administrator Amy McBride. "I love Harold’s work. Unfortunately, he was working in a material that isn’t particularly durable after thirty years. But it had a good run! Close to forty years!" This week, the City issued a call for contractors to bid on a project to remove the artwork. The project is estimated to cost between $2,500 and $4,500. The bid deadline expires at 11 a.m. on Mon., Nov. 23. More information is available online at cityoftacoma.org. "People have told me that it has suffered quite a high degree of vandalism," Balazs, 87, told the Tacoma Daily Index during a telephone interview on Friday from his home in Mead, Wash. "I just had a couple more pieces that have been vandalized and torn down. Nobody wants to repair them." Balazs recalled the artwork originally included water and light features. "I very seldom gave any titles to the work I did. I know that was the case there. I think somebody was going to try and salvage it and just use it in their home, but I guess that hasn't come to pass. "It's just what happens with age," he added. "In the old days, they repaired stuff. But the lifetime endurance of most buildings is twenty-five years. Very little gets saved anymore. It's thrown in the dump." Harold Balazs's "Untitled (Concrete Sculpture)" is seen through the trees at Bicentennial Pavilion in downtown Tacoma. Citing safety concerns, the City of Tacoma plans to remove the 40-year-old sculpture. (PHOTOS BY TODD MATTHEWS)