BLUEFIELD — A new contemporary art display is going up outside of one of Bluefield’s largest employers.
City crews were still working Wednesday afternoon on a second statue outside of the Alorica/Intuit building in the city’s downtown. The two new statues are a project of the Bluefield Beautification Commission, and the commission is planning to add additional statues at other locations in the near future.
The first statue, which is silver in color, was installed outside of Intuit a couple of days ago, according to Gail Satterfield, president of the Bluefield Beautification Commission.
The second statue, a circular structure, was expected to be finished Wednesday.
But lighting that will showcase the statues at night must still be installed, Satterfield said.
“It’s contemporary art,” Satterfield said of the two displays. “This is the first two. We will be finished with Alorica once we get some up lights (installed).”
Craig Strahm, a public works foreman with the city, said public works crews were placing the final clamps at the base of the circular statue Wednesday. He said a plastic covering over the statue would be removed once the work was finished.
Satterfield said the next project planned by the beautification commission will be two bronze garden statues that will be installed near the Craft Memorial Library, also in the downtown area.
“They are for children,” Satterfield said of the second set of statues to be installed. “We will put those down at the library.”
The Bluefield Beautification Commission has already paid for those statues and will be picking them up soon, according to Satterfield. She said the commission hopes to start work on those statues within the next month.
The commission members also plan to do some landscaping work in the area of the new statues. Plus, with summer slowly approaching, Satterfield said the commission has plans for larger flower pots for the various flower displays across the city planned for later this summer.
The new downtown statues are another step in the ongoing efforts to revitalize downtown Bluefield, according to City Clerk and assistant City Attorney Anthony Heltzel.
“Of course those were put in by the beautification commission,” Heltzel said. “Gail Satterfield worked very hard to get those in, and our public works department has been doing the install. We are working very hard to revitalize our downtown area. And we want it to be the focus point in our downtown. We’ve already got the Vault, the RailYard and the Downtown Merchants. And we are going to have a coffee shop to open up. The addition of these statues by the beautification commission is really a great thing and helps to achieve the vision for what we want to do.”
Heltzel said the goal is make the 400 block a new “city center” with attractions and activities that will bring citizens back to the downtown area.
The new statues outside of Intuit were already attracting attention Wednesday from motorists who were slowing down and in some instances stopping to watch their installation.
Intuit is one of the city’s largest employers, and currently has more than 300 employees, according to Sam Wolford, executive director of the Bluefield Economic Development Authority.
“We had an opportunity to meet with some executives with Alorica last week, and they want to continue to be a part of helping the community to grow,” Wolford said.
Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com
