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Towering statement to station's mission

An artist's sculpture outside Tierra Verde Fire Station No. 2 speaks to the building's function and purpose.

By PAUL SWIDER
Published February 1, 2006

TIERRA VERDE - Ilan Averbuch wanted to create a sculpture that could have a "dialogue" with the structure of the Tierra Verde fire station, but that also would speak about the function at that building.

"It's the image of a tower, like a fire tower," said the 52-year-old Israeli-born New Yorker installing Pinellas County's latest piece of commissioned public art. "But I also want the human effort.

"There's a feeling of people carrying loads, layers and layers of them, like firefighters do."

Averbuch will have his sculpture complete in the next several days, having prefabricated most of its five levels of steel, stone and shaped wood.

But he expects the recycled materials to last for many years to come, continually announcing to those whizzing past on the Pinellas Bayway that this is a fire station, an important public building.

"It's a tough site, because people mostly drive around here," he said. Averbuch isn't creating a sign for the fire station, but he wants to use imagery and geometry to form a landmark for the community that accomplishes the same thing.

"There are signs there already: the flag, the red cube, the number 2. I'm trying to create a system of signage that corresponds to the building."

Averbuch's is the most recent installation of the public art program run by the Pinellas County Arts Council, which spends about $450,000 a year of Penny-for-Pinellas money on such projects.

Averbuch's $51,000 commission at Fire Station No. 2 is the 10th completed project since the program started four years ago, said Mark Flickinger, the program's director.

"The idea is to enhance the built environment for residents and for economic development," he said. "If we put the emphasis on developing a community where people want to live, other things tend to take care of themselves."

Flickinger said the program ties into existing construction projects to accent high-visibility government buildings or sites, like libraries or airports where patrons might have time to appreciate art.

He said an advisory board of professionals in the art and architecture community works with community members where the art will be installed to create something of beauty that also will be in harmony with those living around it.

The program's first piece was a stained glass window in the Weedon Island Preserve Cultural and Natural History Center lobby.

More common pieces include the nine railway-themed sculptures that announce place names along the Pinellas Trail. Flickinger said while the county is building its collection, it is taking a cautious approach until it has a broader range.

"We can't have artwork that is going to make everyone happy all the time," he said, "but the target is to have the community embrace what we are doing."

Recent projects include a 15-foot-tall "L" at the County Connection Center in Lealman at 54th Avenue N and 43rd Street, a pair of nautical helixes that form a gateway to Palm Harbor's historic district at Florida Avenue and Alt. U.S. 19, and the Tierra Verde fire station.

Averbuch, who commutes to the fire station during construction from his camp site at Fort De Soto, said he is attracted to outdoor work partly because of his love of open space and natural materials but also because his art is not confined to small media.

"I don't think with my fingers," he said, "I think with my arms."

The tower is made of a steel skeleton mounted to a concrete pad. The lifting sections are railroad ties cut and rearranged to support levels of stone from dismantled East Coast bridges and buildings.

Averbuch said he likes working with recycled materials because "they've already had a life" that shows through.

He said he also is working on a stone ladder in a Kansas City park, design of a rail station in Tacoma, Wash., and sculptures in Phoenix and at Denver's repurposed Stapleton Airport, now becoming a mixed-use urban community. Averbuch has many other examples of public art at ilanaverbuch.com.

[Last modified February 1, 2006, 01:03:19]