Lake Como Park Public Art Project, Final Design Rendering by RDG Dahlquist Art Studio, Courtesy of FWPA
Lake Como Park is about to get even more attractive, and a pair of community leaders are being honored at the same time.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the Fort Worth City Council approved an award of contract with RDG Dahlquist Art Studio to create a sculpture to honor community leader William H. Wilburn, senior editor of the Lake Como Weekly, and Amon G. Carter Sr. City officials said Wilburn and his publication captured the unique character of the community, and Carter donated the land to establish the popular park in 1952.
The council approved a cost of up to $204,704 for the project.
City officials said the project was inspired by the natural beauty and rich history of Lake Como Park.
RDG has designed a new square plaza of just over 21 feet in proximity to the existing pavilion and dock. At its center, a weathering steel sculpture approximately 18 feet in length, 10 feet in height, and just over 11 feet in depth acts as a frame both literally and figuratively for the community.
Four 6-foot wide vertical metal plates, which make up two sides of the frame, echo significant text excerpts from The Lake Como Weekly archives and other historically relevant documents with cutouts and engravings. Angled toward the sky, two triangular plates listing Wilburn (facing north) and Carter (facing south) honor the two men while connecting the frame.
The sculpture will be lit from the ground during evening and night hours. The artists’ final design also includes two laminate black locust wood benches, as well as a pathway leading up to the square plaza surface, which is comprised of compacted crushed granite over prepared compacted granular bed with a quarter-inch steel landscaping edge.
“The Lake Como Leadership collaborated with the city to bring a beautiful piece of art to the community. The piece will sit in the park next to Lake Como and will commemorate the neighborhood’s rich history,” said District 3 Councilman Brian Byrd, in whose district the park lies.
Funding for the project has been allocated from the Public Art Fund (Specially Funded Capital Projects Fund) and the 2004 Bond Program, Proposition 1, based on the project’s location and relationship to capital improvements from that source.