GAZEBO COLLABORATIVE ART PROJECT

GAZEBO PROJECT

Dedicated october 2005. The project was inspired by a wish the community leaders had. The idea of placing a Gazebo adjacent to the historic Court House located in the center of Fairplay. The Building is on the National Historic Register.
The drawings were made and the process for collecting the necessary permissions began. Town, County, Historic and Library boards all approved the design.
Three years later construction started. The funding come from the Burro Days Committee. This organization is a local, all volunteer, fund raising group.
I had a crew of 9 local builders who pitched in to help built the structure along with a hand full of community volunteers.
From the beginning I insisted that time and money were not going to be a controlling factor to the making of the gazebo. It turned out that it was built in 3 months and that we had all the materials we wished for throughout the project.
One of the builders was inspired by this concept and action so much so that his most recent project has been built with the same concept.
It was noticed by all the builders that the work and their involvement had an ease of flow to it. Many commented that they were energized to work and found the building site to be a peaceful place.

Pic 1. Site view, with the Historic Court House in the background.		Pic 2. Some of the Crew members and helpers. The majority of them are long time locals who have volunteered their time in the past. From those experiences they have often come away disappointed and tainted by the politics and arrogance of those who govern our community. I was honored to have them join me for the Gazebo project.
Pic 3. Rob and myself working out the roof pitch in preparation to cut the logs.		Pic 4. Testing the angle of the access ramp as Chuck looks on.
Pic 5. Rob and his log crew placing the roof beams. All the logs were cut locally. Mount Silver Heels provides an classic South Park backdrop.		Pic 6. Ralph tightening the bolts on the cupola that he and Bill built.
Pic 7. Installing the cupola.		Pic 8. Inside detail looking up into the cupola. The rusted tin sheet was acquired from a local mine site and brings the history of the area with it. Old rivets and bullet holes perforate the metal and one bullet slug can be seen.
Pic 9. Stage front. The stepping stones were taken from the rock seam along Beaver Creek Road. They are from the same rock strata as the rocks used to build the Court House.