The Clear Lake City Council approved the proposal for the Three Stars memorial streetscape sculpture, at the May 6 council meeting. The proposal, in the amount of $198,000, was from Brodin Studios of Kimball, Minn.
Brodin has a wide range of experience creating bronze sculptures for law enforcement, fire departments, military organizations, cities and independent artists. Among their portfolio includes the Prince Memorial Statue in New Ulm, Minn. and the soon to arrive Duke Slater Statue in Clinton, Iowa.
The “Three Stars Sculpture” honoring the fallen rock-n-roll artists Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson will be located in a plaza area in front of the Surf’s new Music Enrichment and Immersive Center. Purchase of the sculpture was made possible by the generous donation of $50,000 from the Harmon Family Charitable Trust. The remainder of the cost is split 60/40 between the City of Clear Lake and the State of Iowa.
According to City Administrator Scott Flory, the sculpture will be ordered on May 7 and will be put in place in the plaza when the MEIC and streetscape project are complete in June 2025. The sculpture will be life size and will sit on a base of black granite.
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In addition the Council approved items on the consent agenda which included a recommendation from Planning & Zoning to waive the Preliminary Plat and to accept the Site Plan and construction drawings for the Emerald Edge subdivision. The reason P&Z granted approval was due to the fact that the developer had already had an approved Site Plan, along with approved construction documents.
The Council also approved a non-binding Letter of Intent for the City of Clear Lake’s potential financial participation in the Stonebrook Condominium development project to be located on 2.86 acres on Lot 12 Woodlane Drive. P&Z approved the developer’s site plan at the Dec. 20, 2023 meeting. The developer is asking the City of Clear Lake for $100,000 to cover the financial gap between development cost and the return on private investment to develop the project.
