Property owners want to move Shelter Cove sculpture that ensnared boy
The red metal sculpture that ensnared a 7-year-old boy earlier this month should be moved away from the center of the new Shelter Cove Community Park, say Shelter Cove property owners.
But their suggestion is more about taste than safety concerns. Several owners are not fans of what they affectionately call "the red worm," said Charles Davis, president of Shelter Cove Harbour Co., which manages several of the residential communities neighboring the shopping center.
"Quite frankly, the architecture review board was unanimous in saying this doesn't look like much of the art we have around the rest of the community," said Davis, referring to the Poppies and King Neptune sculptures at the veterans memorial and Shelter Cove Harbour. "We're going to try to move it to what we think is a little less auspicious location ... Art's a funny thing. Some people like one kind and some people like the other."
The Shelter Cove property owners have recommended Hilton Head Island officials move the town-owned sculpture to a proposed new expansion of the park, Davis said. The expansion is part of a proposed change to the luxury apartments planned along Shelter Cove Lane, which town leaders will consider next month.
"We think that assuming the plan goes through, with the new property the town will be acquiring, they might tie into that and make it a focal point there," Davis said.
Town planners will consider the recommendation once Town Council has decided on the new apartment plan and a permanent location can be designed, said Shawn Colin, town deputy director of community development.
In the mean time, the town has roped off the sculpture with a temporary "DO NOT CLIMB" sign.
The sign has been up for almost two weeks after Jacob Andersen, 7, was climbing the statue on Aug. 1 and fell, lodging his knee in between pieces of the sculpture. He was freed uninjured by Head Island Fire & Rescue Division, who used a surgical lubricant to free him.
A planned public unveiling of the sculpture just a few days later was postponed and the artist, John Clement, is working on a permanent fix, said Jean Heyduck of the Community Foundation of the Lowcountry, which purchased the piece after it won the town's second annual Public Art Exhibition in 2013.
A new unveiling will be held in October, and Clement plans to attend, she said.
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- Artist: Boy trapped in Hilton Head Island park sculpture 'a first' Aug. 4, 2015
- Boy freed after becoming trapped in Hilton Head sculpture, Aug. 3, 2015
This story was originally published August 20, 2015 at 7:29 PM with the headline "Property owners want to move Shelter Cove sculpture that ensnared boy."