Durham accepts gift of sculpture

Durham, N.C. — The Durham City Council will accept the donation of a sculpture by noted Spanish artist Jaume Plensa for the plaza outside the new Durham Performing Arts Center.

Mayor Bill Bell said the council suspended the usual rules to vote during a work session Thursday.

Jim Goodmon, the president and chief executive of Capitol Broadcasting Co., has offered to donate the sculpture if the city agrees to maintain it for at least 25 years. Capitol Broadcasting is the parent company of WRAL.

The sculpture, entitled "Sleep No More," consists of a 13-foot-diameter disk of aluminum and stainless steel that bears a quote from William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in raised letters that spiral out from the center. A 7,000-watt beam of light shoots up vertically from an underground bulb through a lens in the middle of the disk, which sits on the ground.

Goodmon last year donated three Plensa sculptures to the North Carolina Museum of Art.

The unveiling of the sculpture was set for Dec. 1, one day after the opening of the new performing arts center.

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I think that this is appalling that with our energy crisis and the desires of many of our citizens for greener policies that save energy that such a deliberate waste of energy would be undertaken. This will do nothing but create a brighter nighttime environment for those who live close by, create more light pollution, harm wildlife, and waste the tax payers money for the next 25 years. To the residents of Durham, after this is turned on you will be able to "sleep no more".