The more than 40-year-old cement sculpture known as Twisted Loop — saved from the wrecking ball when its former location in the old LBA Savings Bank drive-thru on Vermilion Street was demolished last spring — was rededicated in a ceremony Thursday morning at its new location in the traffic island on Congress Street between the Lafayette Public Library and the IberiaBank Building.
Representatives from the Acadiana Center for the Arts and Downtown Development Authority, which spearheaded the sculpture’s salvation, were joined by City-Parish President Joey Durel for the unveiling. “I think when people drive around Lafayette and they see that we take the arts seriously — that we embrace it — ultimately it benefits the entire community,” Durel told the gathering.
“This morning has been six months in the making since we began construction on phase two expansion of the AcA, but it’s really been in the works for more than a decade” said Gerd Wuestemann, the AcA’s executive director. “So, we’re very, very happy that this is taking place.”
The Lemoine Company, which is constructing the AcA expansion, as well as Architects Southwest, the expansion project’s chief architect, donated their services to the relocation of the sculpture, known affectionately among downtowners as “the tongue.” A plaster company also refurbished Twisted Loop’s surface, and local eagle scouts painted it and did landscaping at its new home. “Volunteerism is an amazingly powerful tool for any community, because volunteers pound for pound can do ten times the work in half the time than anybody else,” Wuestemann observed.
Also at the rededication ceremony were Robert Wiggs, the artist who designed Twisted Loop, and Mike and Andreé Stansbury, who help construct the sculpture on-site in 1967. The sculpture, cement and plaster set onto a metal armature, weighs four to eight tons, depending who’s doing the estimating. Wiggs and his wife, Betty, were on hand in May when the piece was removed from the old LBA site.
... written by Puzzled , October 02, 2009 - 05:43 pm
I am puzzled by the interest in saving this sculpture and the disinterest in the destruction of the Robert Dafford mural that LBA commissioned to depict Jefferson Street at the time of its founding, more than 100 years ago.
... written by NORTHSIDIAN SHOTGUN-COUSIN !!! , October 03, 2009 - 07:20 pm
PUZZLED? YA BE NAW MORE IT GOT ALL TA DO WID STIMALATIN DA ECONOMY ! DA LCG GOTS LOTS AH $$$$$ TA DOO DAT WHAT BE POLITICALLY COERRECT ! DIS SCULPTURE WAS DA DIPICTSHUN OF DAH GRAND FOIST BODYBUILDER IN DA PARISH, DA WAS BEFO THE NOW GRANDE ELITIST GYM WER EVEDDY BODY FROM DA DOGCATCHER TA DA PRESIDENT GOTS AH MEMBERSHIP!!! SUM GOES TA BE SEEN AND SUM GOES DER TA SEE !! YA KNOES WHA I KALKIN BOUT ! SUM GITS DER JOLLIES WID WATCHIN LIKE DAT LITTLE FELLOW WAT GOTS DAT PARANOYAH CUZ HE BE TOO SHORT TA GIT ON DA FERRIS WHEEL $ DA ROLLEY COASTER AT DA STREET FAIR, HE WORE DEM COMBOY BOOTS TA REACH DA SIGN, TA RIDE! (SOLLY- SIDE TRACK) ANNYWAYS DAT BODYBUILDER BOT AH CONCRETE COMPANY AND DAT (BUILDING DEM DRIVEWAYS BY DA COUNCILBOYS FO DER FRIENS WAS FINI, WID DA NEW CONSOLIDATION OF DA POLITICOS ) CONCRETE BIZNESS AT AH DEAD-STILL. DA LCG NOES DEY DON'T HEP DA CONCRETE PEOPLES DEN DEY HAVE TA CLOSE DER DOORS,DAS WHY DA BIG ORDER OF DA CONCRETE WAS BOUGHT AND DAS WHY DAT "S" LIEING ON IT SIDE COME TA BE!!!!!!!WHA ELSE YOU GOT AH QUESTION, ABOUT???????? EH ? AY LCG WEN YA GOIN BRING DAT LUS FIBER TA DA SEAFOOD LANE BY DA BRIDGE, WE GOTS 3 COMPUTERS ON DIS LANE BY DA BAYOU. AN AH VIDEO STO AHN 3 TRUCKS STOP WID INDOOR SLOT MACHINES $ FREE DRAFT BEER!!!!!!
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The more than 40-year-old cement sculpture known as Twisted Loop — saved from the wrecking ball when its former location in the old LBA Savings Bank drive-thru on Vermilion Street was demolished last spring — was rededicated in a ceremony Thursday morning at its new location in the traffic island on Congress Street between the Lafayette Public Library and the IberiaBank Building.
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