We received this in from a reader who has been haunted by some artwork by Claremont sculptor Barbara Beretich. The reader was kind enough to send along some photos, which we incorporated into the post. The tale reminds us a bit of the traveling gnome from the 2001 movie Amélie:
Hello Insider,
For some time now, I've been tracking the movements of Barbara Beretich's mysterious bronze horse, which seems to have been following me around town. Apparently, I'm not the only person haunted by this critter:
http://holarubia.blogspot.com/2007/01/this-horse-is-following-me.html
First I saw it at Beretich's house, then it appeared at the Klitgaard house (CGU President), then in the front yard of the house on College and 10th (the, er, posterior and hanging bits 'n pieces facing the front door...a strange choice, I always thought)
A few nights ago, a SECOND horse appeared in that yard - a gold one. The next morning, I saw men trucking away with the clearly inferior bronze (surely a silver exists?) and lo and behold...it appeared on the weird park-island on Indian Hill, where the angel statue used to be (poor angel got moved up to the Drug Dealer Park).
Clearly, this is the Thoroughbred of Sin (who rules Claremont with an iron hoof. For more info, see http://www.drhorrible.com/)
Here are some pics!
cheers
P.S. Thanks for posting the info about the tunnel by Claremont High. I *love* that Claremont had pedestrian tunnels! Screw the trolley, bring back the tunnels!!!!
We'd seen the change at Indian Hill Blvd. and Harrison Ave. that the reader mentioned. People referred to the island as the "Porkchop" because of its shape. If you haven't seen it, the city has closed off the old, separate northbound right turn lane from Indian Hill to Harrison and turned the Porkchop into into a small greenspace with a display platform for public art; people have begun to call it Porkchop Park. They've also managed to make the right turn onto Harrison into an odd, acute angled affair (see below).
Click to Enlarge
We don't know much about the reasons for altering the street, other than that somebody else's money was available. Maybe Claremont Mayor Ellen Taylor was using it as a southbound shortcut onto Indian Hill.
Claremont City Manager Jeff Parker explained the project in his weekly City Manager's Report on July 18th:
INDIAN HILL/HARRISON AND BONITA PROJECT
The Indian Hill/Harrison and Bonita project is near completion. The City has received a number of positive comments from the public regarding the improvements. [this was before installation of the horse with the pendant parts.--ed.]
The reconfiguration of the southeast corner of the Indian Hill/Harrison intersection consisted of the removal of the separate, northbound dedicated right turn lane. The former design diverted pedestrians away from the most direct route to the signalized intersection at Indian Hill and Harrison, by having them continue along the edge of the right turn lane to Harrison. The new design eliminates the separate right turn lane and provides a direct and safe route to the signalized intersection. The removed section of the roadway is now covered with new landscaping, benches, pedestrian walkways and bicycle racks.
Additional Indian Hill improvements included the extension of the existing center median south to Fourth Street, construction of handicapped ramps, and installation of traffic signal features to assist the visually impaired. The installation of a concrete pedestal was also included in this project, with the purpose to display different sculptures loaned by local artists as part of a program sponsored by the Community Foundation.
The Bonita portion of this project added the pedestrian sidewalk and streetlights to the north side of the roadway between Grinnell and Berkeley Avenues.
The project was funded with $420,000 of federal grant funding through the Hazard Elimination and Safety program. [The prospect of facing down Mayor Taylor as she hurtles willy-nilly the wrong way on a one-way street would be a hazard, we guess, worth $420,000 to eliminate.]
Posts
