The upcoming City Commission meeting on Monday, 3/5 will be interesting. On the agenda is a recommendation from City Manager Jim Ritsema to remove the historic Fountain of the Pioneers in Bronson Park. The fountain, designed by modernist sculptor Alfonso Ianelli in 1940, depicts a Native American facing east and a white settler facing west and standing taller than the Native American. It was recently listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the city's own Historic Preservation Commission has been trying to raise nearly $3 million for a restoration (and they were about 3/4 of the way there).
The fountain is appreciated by some for its artistic qualities, but condemned by others for promoting racist ideology and the supremacy of the white race. In Kalamazoo, it has become a local symbol of the larger struggles for race equality that have been seen across the country. From the City Manager's
report:
Quote:
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...Bronson Park is often referred to as Kalamazoo’s front porch. Our front porch must be a place where everyone feels welcome, comfortable, and included...We believe this recommendation closely aligns with our Shared Prosperity efforts as well as our community’s aspirations of racial healing and equity. This proposal also underscores Kalamazoo’s commitment to a positive future for everyone...
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It is expected that the Commission will accept the recommendation fro the City Manager, clearing the way for the fountain to be removed after years of debate. If this happens, the 'best-case' scenario is that the artistically significant portions would then be put in storage until a more suitable location could be found for it, and the void left by the excised sculpture would be re-programmed for other uses.
My own personal opinion is that it should stay, but my expectation is that it will go. I understand how it can be perceived as interpreted as derisive of Native Americans (and more broadly, non-white races in general) but I think the point of the sculpture is to depict an ugly (but) true part of American history that should not be hidden or forgotten. There has been talk of moving it to a museum, but the KIA and Kalamazoo Valley Museum have both indicated that they do not have the proper space for it. I suspect that if it comes down, we will never see it re-erected, at least in its full form.
I think the bigger crime here is the estimated costs that the City has received to do something with it, as reported recently on
MLive -
- Option 1 - Complete Removal and Reinstallation - about $2 million to dismantle and reinstall the fountain at a new site, according to a city staff report.
- Option 2 - Partial Removal & Partial Restoration - About $70,000 to $100,000 to dismantle just the offending part of the fountain, and then another $1.25 million to repair the fountain base.
- Option 3 - The 'cheapest option' - Full Demolition, no reinstallation - $75,000 to $100,000.
I've worked on a job where we demolished a 30,000 SF structure with heavily-reinforced 24" thick concrete walls for less than the 'cheap' option. It was not a historic sculpture, but it was an architecturally significant, mid-century building designed to withstand a nuclear holocaust. I think someone is taking advantage of the current racial tensions to rob the city blind of its public funds. If the vote to remove it happens Monday, I suspect many of those that donated to the HPC for restoration will demand that they get their money back.
My own photos from June 2017 -
