St. Paul: Thieves target bronze plaques on Summit Avenue, a sculpture from Harriet Island

Frederick Melo, Pioneer Press
Updated ·3 min read
1

Twice in as many weeks, thieves have absconded — or attempted to abscond — with large bronze pieces from some of St. Paul’s most sizable parks sculptures, setting the stage for what some officials worry could be a difficult season.

Police say the art thieves probably are not interested in their historic character so much as the price they’d fetch in the metal market — bronze is generally composed of some 90% copper, whose price is near a 10-year high.

St. Paul Parks and Recreation Director Andy Rodriguez learned about two weeks ago that someone had run off with two large bronze plaques that for decades have adorned a war memorial on Summit Avenue. He’s still awaiting cost estimates for replacing the plaques, but the early figures he’s been quoted run upward of $8,000 or possibly $10,000.

“That’s the rough number,” said Rodriguez, who is working with St. Paul police to alert scrap yards about the stolen metals. “Those are bronze plates. It’s a very detailed piece. We would assume that people are stealing them to scrap and make money off them.”

Added Rodriguez on Friday, “I hope it’s not a trend going into summer.”

The plaques, which had been fastened to the World War I memorial in Shadow Falls Park at Mississippi River Boulevard and Summit Avenue, were installed in 1922 and 2019 by the Daughters of the American Revolution to commemorate St. Paul and Ramsey County residents who lost their lives in the so-called “Great War.”

Harriet Island Regional Park ‘Flood Wave’ hit

In 2001, when the city of St. Paul redesigned Harriet Island Regional Park to better accommodate large events, two artists were commissioned to decorate the Harriet Island Gateway, a literal gateway in the levee system along the Mississippi River. The result was dubbed “Flood Wave,” a large, multi-piece metal sculpture mounted on the gateway’s concrete walls to resemble crashing waves, and perhaps the ephemeral motion of seaweed.

The sculpture’s bronze contours no longer greet visitors walking into the park from Water Street. Not long ago, a person or group of people apparently attempted to make off with the heavy installation, cutting through all but some of the metal leaves’ last screws or fasteners before giving up and disappearing like so much flotsam in the wind. Sculpture conservators with KCI Conservation noticed the damage on Tuesday while conducting site inspections and alerted the city, who roped in St. Paul police.

At the recommendation of police, the city responded Wednesday by taking at least half of the sizable pieces of public art down entirely.

“The way it’s set up, it’s really complicated to get it off the wall,” Rodriguez said, calling the damage new. “We noticed it this week when the conservator was out. It looked pretty fresh. We don’t know the date and time.”

“Flood Wave” was mounted in June 2001 and created by Duluth-based sculptors Ann Klefstad and Jeffrey Kalstrom. Rodriguez said it is yet to be determined whether the piece will be restored and reassembled at the same location.

Informed of the damage on Friday, Klefstad said she hoped the sculpture could soon be reinstalled and offered to help the city with the effort.

“Well that’s a drag,” she said. “It’s irritating. Each of those pieces weighs 600 pounds, if I remember correctly. They’d be tough to haul off.”

Metal thieves have been busy throughout St. Paul and other cities, focusing in years past on catalytic converters purloined from under parked cars. With prices rising, copper wire has become a more common target over the past year or more, leading to long strings of darkened street lights throughout the city, especially in and around the city’s parks and river roads.

Touring Como Park this month, Gov. Tim Walz joined St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter in calling proposed legislation to license copper sellers a top priority.

Related Articles