From Paper Towel Sketch to Steel and Stone

Wright Ledbetter and Derek Bell stand under center arch as work gets underway.

When Wright Ledbetter and Derek Bell submitted their “Porto Futurus” design to the citywide competition to bring large-scale art to the city, it had already come a long way from the paper towel drawings they had sketched over beer while hanging out one summer night in 2007.  And now, after ten years of friendship and nearly a year since that fateful night, the concept is fast becoming reality with the second of three concrete segments poured last week and stonework underway.

Standing near the structure, it becomes obvious how under-imagined its scale has been from initial reports.  While standing in the center, the structure looms twenty-seven feet overhead and spreads approximately seventy feet by fifty feet around.  At this point in the building process, the nine tons of steel undergirding the structure, eight trucks worth of cement, and 70,000 pounds of ashalar-cut Tennesee Field stone are all taking shape at once.

One goal of the design and a foundational principle of the concept itself is fortitude and staying power.  While discussing material off-hand with Structural Designer and Contrator, Mike Niwicki, he asks “now, will that last 200 years?” to which Mike reples, “yes, definitely. That’s what it’s made for.”  He turns to give the official statement of his intention for the piece to “last for centuries,” but it is already obvious this goal has defined most every decision on the project from the structural design to the materials chosen to method of construction.

However, hardly anyone will stand near the Porto Futurus. They will whiz by while entering and exiting Rome, and the rod widths and material makeup will only be distant technical decisions underlying the project’s aesthetic power and existence as a piece of art. It is, in the end, three intersecting aqueducts spread across the center grass between Highways 411, 101, and US 27.  Wanting to use recognizable architectural forms that were also symbolic, Bell notes that aqueducts “are historically the lifeblood to the community.”  The three intersecting series of arches sit next to three intersecting highways in a town of three intersecting rivers, and as Ledbetter points out, “it is a symbol of the Ledbetter Exchange, the city itself, and past civilizations.”  The three sections cause him to reflect on the “past and present efforts of the community to convey itself towards the future – and aqueducts are a form of conveyance, just like highways and rivers.”

While funds are still being raised by Ledbetter for the lighting package and electricity, there will be yet another dimension for the viewer at night. “The lights will be at very heroic angles, lighting the columns from the base. It will be spectacular to behold.” Look out for a sponsor of this project to step forward soon.

The project was an initiative of the Rome Area Council for the Arts and the City of Rome and its budget of $150,000 is being met with a National Endowment for the Arts grant secured by former RACA director, Alan Bell, state funding through the Department of Community Affairs, secured by Senator Preston Smith, and over $35,000 in local contributions.

After a minor delay in groundbreaking due to DOT concerns, the project got underway in July and is now set to be complete by the end of September or very early October.

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