EDITORIAL -- Bag the bones for a sculpture that suits Surf City

It’s a beautiful day at the beach, so you decide to go for a little

stroll along the boardwalk and enjoy the sights and sounds.

You marvel at the water’s shade of blue and how it sparkles in the

sun. You watch as children run up and down the beach and frolic in the

ocean. You listen to the waves crash on the shore and study the surfers,

admiring how effortless their ride along the waves looks.

Then something strange catches your ear.

It sounds a little fuzzy, kind of like a recording -- a recording of

bell buoys and foghorns.

And then you see it.

Big. White. Pointy.

It’s the city’s latest beautification effort. A sculpture of, well, a

whale carcass - or what’s left of it.

And that noise is a tape -- so visitors can hear the sounds of the

ocean.

In a city that has so much to boast, it’s puzzling why the council

chose a sculpture of whale bones -- with piped in sounds of the ocean --

to welcome visitors to our most prized possession.

We have so much to celebrate -- a beautiful coastline, an eclectic mix

of cultures. Heck, we’ve even earned the right to call the town Surf

City, a nickname many beach towns must envy.

The sculpture hasn’t won us over, and it hasn’t won over a lot of

residents. Since the council decided on the work May 1, the Independent

has received dozens of letters, the majority of them lambasting the

council for its choice in public art, which will stand at Pacific Coast

Highway and Beach Boulevard, the city’s gateway to the beach.

One resident calls it ‘absurd,’ another suggests the McDonald’s arches

would make a more attractive landmark.

“What do whale bones raising from the sand have to do with Huntington

Beach?” asks Cecelia Sparks. “The only connection I could think of is the

three whales that have been washed ashore [at Sunset Beach].”

“This is Surf City, not Whaler’s Village,” says Phil Wilder. “How can

they pick whale bones over surf boards?”

Actually, the council tried that with the proposed “Surfhenge”

sculpture. Residents didn’t like that one much either, but we believe it

would be a better match for Huntington Beach than whale bones.

Kimberly Kolpin, director of the Bolsa Chica Stewards, finds a sad

irony in the situation. The $35,000 the city will use to purchase the

sculpture will come from a settlement in the American Trader oil spill.

“It is in bad taste to glorify the death of marine life, which

certainly the oil spill contributed to at that time,” Kolpin says.

Surely city leaders could have come up with something better -- a

sculpture that celebrates the many families whose beach outings have

become annual traditions, or one that pays homage to the lifeguards who

stand watch over the millions of visitors who flock to the shore every

year, saving lives while risking their own.

We urge the council to reconsider. Abandon the bones and work to find

a sculpture that truly represents Huntington Beach. Enlist the help of

residents to serve on a special committee whose sole focus would be on

finding the best piece of art to display at that corner. But please, no

whale bones.