Statues victim of erosion

Santa Barbara News-Press - March 10, 1990

By John Wilkens

The county Courthouse is losing some of its spirit, and the building's "watch dog" group would like to see it restored as soon as possible.The group, the Docent Council, is concern about the sculptures in the "Spirit of the Ocean Fountain," which are losing a slow but steady battle with the forces of erosion. According to Docent President David Bisol, the sculptures - a man and woman leaning on a serpent of the sea - were done in1928 by Italian artist Ettore Cadorin. Two local residents were used as models. The figures were finished in sandstone, Bisol said, and that is part of the current problem. "Sandstone, in the first place is subject to erosion," he said. "Natural processes, water, wind, the sun - they all act together in breaking it down. Every time it rains, we are losing a measurable amount of detail."Located to the left of the courthouse's Anacapa Street arch entrance, the sculptures are showing their age. Cracks are apparent in a number of places, and there is a large gouge in the male figure's abdomen. Bisol said the weathering has inadvertently been accelerated by county public works. "Twice they have put a pool sealing paint on the figures in an attempt to offset the erosion," he explained. " Unfortunately, when the sun beats down on the fountain, it triggers a steam process in the statues that, in effect, liquidated the sand inside and creates an egg-shell structure on the outside. "If the egg-shell were punctured, sand would actually fall out," Bisol said. The docents operate under the county in providing guides in the Courthouse, and Bisol said the group also acts as a "watchdog" for everything considered "aesthetics" in and around the building. More than a month ago, members of the group and local artist Nathan Zakheim - the man who restored the Peak-Warshaw mural at the library - met with public works officials and discussed restoration, according to Bisol. Out of that meeting and subsequent efforts, he added, a $20,000 proposal for the work was placed in the public works preliminary budget for the next year. Similar proposals have been cut during the county's budgetary-process before, however, and Bisol fears that this one may be eliminated, too. But he is optimistic. : This year we have been working with public works," he said. "They are 100 percent behind us." Restoring the sculptures is phase of the docent council's foundation project.The second phase, which Bisol estimates will cost $10,000, involves work on the pool and tiles. "But the sculptures," he said, "are our primary concern." Zakheim has expressed an interest in doing the restoration, according to Bisol, and has a specific method in mind to do the work. "This is a very pressing project," Bisol said." We feel the board and the people of the city need to be educated on just what is happening to the fountain - which is an important part of what may be the most famous building in the state." If the public works proposal is cut from the budget, Bisol said the docents will attempt to raise the funds necessary through donations - an effort that is already under way informally, he added. "The entire project is an investment in our aesthetic future," he said.