08.24.2008
The Eagle Has Landed at Prairie Center
On December 6th, a symbol of Prairie Center's ecological sensitive development found a home on top of a man-made mountain at Prairie Center in Brighton, Colorado. Normally in Colorado, when a bald eagle finds a perch, not that many people notice. However, when it is a 3,000-pound bronze sculpture with a wingspan of 20 feet, it causes soaring excitement.
The sculpture had originally been created for another community a few years ago, but it had been too large. A deal was brokered by THF's Jim Lewis and John Kinkade, a Loveland gallery owner, and the eagle found a home fitting its scale as the centerpiece of THF's Prairie Center, a 2,000-acre mixed use development consisting of retail, residential, parks and open space. The work by Wyoming sculptor, Sandy Scott, took 18 months to complete and cost nearly $300,000.
James Peden of Eagle Bronze Foundry and Gallery put the 100-piece bronze sculpture together and drove it from Wyoming to its new home. The eagle was bolted into a steel sleeve which protrudes from the hilltop and is anchored by a concrete pad inside the mountain. The man-made mountain and waterfall were created by landscape architect Jo Hurst.