In Boulder City, a fuss about a dam statue

Jean Reid Norman

A new statue went up recently in downtown Boulder City at the corner of Nevada Way and Arizona Street.

By Jean Reid Norman (contact)

Monday, July 27, 2009 | 1:59 a.m.

SCULPTURE LOCATIONS:

View Boulder City Public Art Scape 2009 in a larger map

Boulder City unveils 17 public art installations (5-30-2009)

Statue

One bronze figure sits with his boots off, sandwich in hand, looking up at a workmate clearly in midsentence.

The standing figure in the new statue at Arizona Street and Nevada Way has his hands lifted up, shoulders shrugged, as if saying, “I don’t know what all the fuss was about.”

But the installation this month of the “Puddler’s Break” by Sutton Betti, the fifth statue in downtown Boulder City paid for with Redevelopment Agency money, represents an ongoing controversy on the City Council about how RDA money should be spent.

The final approval for the $50,000 cost came in January when the City Council, serving as the RDA board, voted 3-2, with Council members Linda Strickland and Travis Chandler expressing reservations about spending the money on artwork with the economy in recession and city budget struggling.

Strickland, who noted she doesn’t oppose public art, suggested suspending the program, which was funded through 2010, until the economy improves.

Chandler’s objections go deeper, he said last week. He thinks voters ought to approve spending city money on things such as art, and he did not like the fact that the work on the statue was authorized before the council had approved it.

Andrea Anderson and Mike Pacini, who were on the council at the time, and Mayor Roger Tobler had all supported the program and the statue by Betti, his first large-scale public art project. But they agreed that future pieces would need to receive a final council blessing before the artist began work.

None of that history is reflected in the scene next to Franks Barber Shop. The history depicted is that of the building of Hoover Dam. The two figures are puddlers, whose job it was to stir and smooth each layer of cement as it was poured to create the dam. They used shovels and their feet to ensure there were no air bubbles or debris — including bodies — in the concrete, a plaque explains.

Betti said he decided to show the pair taking a break to make his piece different from others showing dam workers, such as the High Scalers at Hoover Dam.

“I was thinking during the time they were working on the dam, it was the Depression, and anyone with a job would be happy,” Betti said. “I wanted to show them happy.”

That is the history that the artwork is designed to show, said Darlene Burk, who was on the committee that selected the statue. The program’s mission is to show the history of Boulder City from its beginning as the town that built the dam.

The other statues purchased with city money include “Hitching a Ride,” at the corner of B Street and Nevada Way, of children on a tricycle; “Afternoon Breeze,” at the opposite corner of Arizona Street and Nevada Way from the new piece, of a Depression-era woman holding her hat against a brisk wind; “Alabam,” at the corner of Wyoming Street and Nevada Way, of the Hoover Dam worker who serviced the outhouses; and “London Bridge,” in front of City Hall, of children playing.

They are not the only outdoor statues in Boulder City, of course. The ArtScape project, which displays outdoor sculptures for a year, has 17 pieces that went up in May, Burk said. In addition, McDonald’s on Nevada Highway has installed several statues of children playing, and several other privately owned statues decorate downtown streets.

The puddlers in the newest work seem oblivious to the debate, but one part of the statue could appear symbolic: The two concrete-spattered shovels, which could be used to “bury” the controversy -- or dig it back up.

CORRECTION: This story was updated to add that the statue was installed this month. | (July 27, 2009)

Discussion: 9 comments so far…

By jlb101

7/27/09 at 6:27 a.m.

Suggest removal

How about that stupid concrete dam with the TV screen on it? Who paid for that monstrocity? It used to be when you went to Boulder City there was a billboard that told what was going on in town. Now all you see is a TV screen with a flag close up and "Welcome to Boulder City" flashing back and forth. Me thinks they may have too much money to spend.
By CarsonNewshound

7/27/09 at 7:17 a.m.

Suggest removal

Redevelopment law in Nevada is far too loose. In some other Nevada cities redevelopment agencies spends hundreds of thousands of dollars without ANY city council or county commission approval...some despite specific prohibitions in state law. Some DA's just either don't have time to keep their councils or commissioners on a short enough leash, or they don't care...take your pick.
By Sunvisitor

7/27/09 at 7:20 a.m.

Suggest removal

This is the first I've heard of the sculptures and I might go up to Boulder to view them. And then have lunch there. Others probably would too if they knew about it. Of course I'll cover my license plate. :-)
By cpo

7/27/09 at 10:21 a.m.

Suggest removal

As times get tougher, this will change and DA' will make the time. Spending Taxpayers money without permission or the rights to do it is low on the pole during good times.
By happy_in_bc

7/27/09 at 11:02 a.m.

Suggest removal

I hear that advertisement rates for the new "Welcome to Boulder City" TV Screen are so high, local businesses and organizations cannot afford to use it. "Build it and they will come". Kinda like the Boulder Creek Golf Course. They must get all there marketing information from 6th graders. Well done again Boulder City.
By bcsunreader

7/28/09 at 7:22 a.m.

Suggest removal

Please write a story on who owns the Welcome to BC sign and land. Who pays the various electric and landscaping bills, updates the electronic signage? Who decides the rates and text on the sign? Who collects and keeps the revenue, pays which bills. How many words do the designers think the average driver can read at the intersection? What do the designers recommended as the optimum text size for a message? What is left to do at the intersection before the Welcome sign is done? What have been the costs and what is the projected yearly budget for the next 5 years?
By henderson

7/28/09 at 10:36 a.m.

Suggest removal

I love Boulder City. These statues are fun and quaint. They remind me of our statues in Green Valley.
By Jean Reid Norman

7/28/09 at 5:55 p.m.

Suggest removal

BCSunReader -- We ran a photo of that sign in the June 11 edition of the Boulder City News, when the sign was under construction. The caption noted that the city owns the sign, which it built with Redevelopment Agency money and a grant from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. I think the only work that is left is landscaping, and it's a little hot for that now.

You ask many other good questions. I will definitely do a follow-up to answer them, probably before the sign is dedicated. Thanks for asking.

Jean Reid Norman
By cpo

7/28/09 at 6:29 p.m.

Suggest removal

Honestly, that sign is the stupidest ideal i have ever seen the City do. It looks like it would be better in front of Railroad pass, instead of cute Boulder City. My question, what was wrong with the old one ?