There will no longer be a quiet oasis outside the University Galleries on the East side of UF's campus.
After a 34-year stint, "Water Sculpture" has been removed due to vandalism, and the sounds of water trickling down the massive metal sculpture will be replaced with a planter.
"We're all very sad it was vandalized to the extent that required us to remove it," said Denise Krigbaum, UF College of Fine Arts Communications Coordinator. "I do feel the sculpture was a symbol of the College and the university."
The sculpture was removed last week after vandals damaged the piping inside the fountain that allowed water to flow over the sculpture.
"It wasn't the university's fault for taking it down," she said. "It was the person who vandalized it."
Commissioned in 1975 and created by Jeoffrey Naylor, a former UF sculpture professor, the stainless steel structure initially cost $20,000.
It was paid for by grants from art endowments, UF student government and the University Budget Commission, Krigbaum said.
Thirty-four years later, more than three times its expected lifespan, the Physical Plant Department was asked by the College of Fine Arts to remove the fountain.
"It was expensive to maintain because there were a lot of pranks done involving the sculpture," Krigbaum said. " It's understood that its lifetime is made to be limited."
Over the years, UF fine arts students have been known to contribute to the sculpture by adding soap or Jello as a right of passage.
"I think that it has been well loved over the years," she said. "Some of that love took its toll."
Two main obstacles stood in the way of repairing the sculpture: cost and artistic integrity.
It would cost an estimated $40,000 to repair the fountain, according to Krigbaum, a number which upset some students at UF.
"Dumping money into fixing the fountain is not worth it," said Ashley Neukamm, a senior fine arts major. " I'd rather have my faculty be there on call when I need them instead of pouring money into the maintenance for the fountain."
The 24-foot-wide, 8-foot-tall sculpture is now in storage and will be recycled by the Physical Plant Department.
"Even if we could repair it, there are ethics involved when an artist creates a piece," Krigbaum said. "It has been damaged beyond repair and couldn't meet the artist's initial intent."
As students walk by the empty plaza outside of the University Gallery, the sights and sounds of 13th Street are forever changed.
"I feel like it's something the art department is known for," Neukamm said. "It's like the equivalent of taking down the french fries or the potato in Turlington."
