New Sign Design Chosen for Clymer Park

On Thursday, the Gulfport City Council approved a plan for a new sculpture at Clymer Park. Artist Tom Pitzen was chosen to create artwork that will serve as a welcome to visitors of the city's Waterfront Redevelopment District.

"It was quite an up and down sort of thing," Pitzen said, talking about the selection process. "At first I thought I was going to lose it, but then it came back."

The chosen model will be approximately eight feet tall and 20 feet wide, and will contain colors that will "mimic" the color and shape of the historic Gulfport Casino. It is an arching design, with the word "Gulfport" and an arrow pointing to the waterway. There will be four pairs of floodlights to light the sculpture at night.

According to Pitzen's proposal, Clymer Park's newest landmark will "have a beach scene with a palm tree, umbrella and a sand castle that suggests 'family friendly.'"

"The end towards downtown is the bay," the proposal added, "complete with a regalia of sailboats."

The project is budgeted at $11,000, and Pitzen originally estimated the assignment to take about eight weeks to complete. A concrete base will be poured using heavy equipment.

"I will start it right away," Pitzen said, hoping to begin as soon as this weekend.

As far as the length of the project, Pitzen said he "wouldn't mind a little more time."

A "Call for Artists" went out in July after the Waterfront Redevelopment Advisory Board presented a preliminary concept to the city council. The WRAB motion was a design by a local architect.

The council decided on July 19 that the best possible strategy should include input from Gulfport's artistic community.

This is not the first time Pitzen has provided artwork for Gulfport. About three years ago, he created the palm tree model for the "City of Imagination" project at the 49^th Street Neighborhood Center, located at 1617 49^th Street South.

Among the deciding factors were style, size and artistic flair. The purpose of the original sculpture is to stand out to passersby and direct traffic to the waterfront area. It is seen as something that "connects the City's historic downtown waterfront to Gulfport Boulevard" and "weave together" the city.

Council Member Jennifer Salmon made her decision with an eye for size. She said some of the submissions were simply too large. Large sculptures would compete with other standard items at the park, such as the Christmas tree.

"We have to think about the scale of what we are looking for," said Salmon. "Eight feet is just a wee bit bigger than the current one that we have. I'm more partial to the smaller scale ones."

The council based the final choice on their top two preferences; then they narrowed it down to Pitzen.

"For a while, I was down three to two," said Pitzen, who was at Thursday's Gulfport City Council workshop.

However, the choice did not come without a little humor.

"I vote for no sign," Council Member Sam Henderson joked. "If you don't know where you are, then you shouldn’t be driving."