2,000-lb. Naperville sculpture on hiatus

The view from the back of Hugo's Frog Bar in Naperville's Main Street Promenade will seem empty for the next few months.

Sculptor Jeff Adams removed his 2,000-pound Century Walk sculpture, Symbiotic Sojourn, Thursday morning from the area behind the restaurant and brought it back to his InBronze Foundry in Morris, where it will remain until later this summer.

As part of the $200,000 renovation of the patio at Main Street Promenade, the sculpture will be modified slightly and moved about 20 feet closer to the retail buildings and restaurant. When it returns to Naperville in mid- to late-summer, the sculpture again will be the focal point of the patio, placed in front of a decorative privacy wall.

“Hugo's wanted to expand the patio and make it a little more intimate. While they were doing that we started talking and decided the statue should be closer to the people and easier to see,” developer Dwight Yackley said. “So I told them ‘you help build the patio and I'll help move the sculpture.'”

Adams will clean and reseal the recycling-themed sculpture while it's back in his Morris foundry. He'll also modify the piece by adding more elements around the back of the piece that will be slightly more exposed after the move.

The sculpture currently features Mother Earth; a boy who is collecting bottles, cans and newspapers; and a girl who is holding a fractured globe together.

“Whatever I add will be a continuation of some of the elements that are on the front side,” Adams said. “And we're going to clean it up and reseal it. It's actually the perfect time to do this because the finishes I put on them are usually good for about 10 years.”

Adding to the recycling theme, Yackley said the new wall will be built with bricks recycled from the historic Cock Robin building in Naperville.

“They weren't available (in 2003) when the statue was installed,” Yackley said, “But they are now and I think it's appropriate to use them to build the wall.”

A rededication of the modified statue will be scheduled once the statue is returned to Naperville and installed in its new location.