It’s turning into a disappointing year for the ABQ BioPark.
Following the transfer this month of the zoo’s two African lion siblings to better, up-to-date accommodations in Texas, we recently learned the Rosalie Doolittle Fountain at the entrance to the BioPark’s Botanic Garden has deteriorated to the point city officials may remove it.
The multi-colored, curvilinear fountain designed by artist Shel Neymark began flowing in 1996. It featured 4,000 handmade ceramic tiles of cottonwood leaves and flower motifs.
The city paid Neymark $50,000 from the city’s Public Art Program for the unique fountain. But a report by Public Art Urban Enhancement Division manager Sherri Brueggemann says it is “damaged irreparably.”
How was this allowed to happen?
Neymark, of Embudo, is rightfully upset his artistic creation — now waterless and whose bottom is covered in leaves and dirt — was allowed to deteriorate.
Brueggemann says there have been numerous fountain conservation and maintenance efforts over the past 25 years, yet here we are with a inoperable fountain.
The Albuquerque Art Board has received nearly a hundred contacts from people encouraging the city to save the fountain.
The loss of the BioPark’s high-profile 9-year-old lion siblings because their enclosure had become outdated was a sad chapter in the Biopark’s history. Allowing a $50K fountain to deteriorate beyond repair adds to the perception the city is a negligent landlord of one of the city’s gems.
This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
