Foundation being laid for 14th Street roundabout art installation

Five years after it was selected to grace the center of the roundabout at U.S. 41 and 14th Street, construction of the concrete foundation for “Poly” is finally underway. 

Contractor Spectrum Underground Inc. is prepping the site for the anticipated January 2025 installation of the public art sculpture by New York artist Nancy Hou, created specifically for that location. It almost wasn’t installed there, though, as the price of post-COVID construction materials and labor inflation well exceeded the budget, halting the process in 2023. 

The City Commission approved the 14th Street roundabout project as art of a consent agenda during its July 15, 2024 meeting.

Recommended by the Public Art Committee as the winning entry for that location of the city’s Art in the Roundabouts program, the City Commission unanimously approved the piece, which cost $208,066, in September of 2019. 

Then came COVID, and the subsequent supply chain shortages that halted fabrication of the piece. That was followed by the installation delay because of cost overruns, the only bid received by the city at $389,738. Combined with a bid of $743,652 for the 10th Street Roundabout, the proposed home of “Seagrass,” that came to more than $1.33 million, more than double the $514,000 the city budgeted for both. 

The total cost for the concrete pad and construction is $340,906.50. Spectrum Underground had submitted a bid of $319,931.70, but the Florida Department of Transportation did not approve of the proposed materials, which increased the final price by $20,974.80.

Other bids received were from Jon F. Swift Construction at $354,850.10, Wessel Construction at $415,194, and Halfacre Construction at $482,539.20 — all prior to the state-required materials adjustment.

Photo by Andrew Warfield

The project involves structural and aesthetic enhancements designed to improve the visual appeal and functionality of the roundabout. Spectrum Underground will be responsible for the installation the sculpture, landscaping, irrigation and lighting improvements.

After the City Commission declined to accept the original bid for the two roundabouts, former Public Art Coordinator Mary Davis Wallace led city’s Public Art Committee in selecting alternate locations for the sculptures. Included in the committee's recommendations was moving Poly out of the roundabout and into Whitaker Gateway Park in the northwest quadrant of the circle. 

The committee proposed moving all roundabout sculptures from state right of way on U.S. 41 onto city property, where it was presumed the price would be considerably less because the installation could employ less expensive materials than required by the FDOT and the process is open to more potential bids. Contractors working in state right of way must be sanctioned by the FDOT, which limits the field of candidates. 

The cost difference, it turns out, was negligible.

As it was discussing alternative locations, the Public Art Commission was told the cost to install pads in locations outside the FDOT right of way could range between $350,000 and $750,000 each, depending on a variety of factors such as availability of electricity for lighting.

“We're all in shock with what the pre-2020 prices were to pour a 15-foot foundation,” Wallace said at the time.” It was under $100,000.”

With the matter of Poly settled, the city has two more roundabout sculptures to address — Seagrass at 10th Street and “Sun Always Shines” at Fruitville Road. Installation of Seagrass has yet to be publicly addressed. And Sun Always Shines, which was selected by the committee in May 2023, has yet to be considered for approval by the City Commission. 

Also looming is the newest roundabout at U.S. 41 and Gulfstream Avenue, which was intended to be part of the Art in the Roundabouts program.

All of that has been put on hold, a city spokesperson told the Observer, until a new public art coordinator is hired.