DFJ photo by David Borer: City Manager John Harrenstein talks about how collaboration among groups improves the community's asthetics.

A cooperative project between Arts R Alive in Webster City, Iowa, and the local SSMID (Self-Supported Municipal Improvement District) came to fruition at long last on Tuesday with the official installation of a sculpture downtown that is also a bike rack.

“I’m just glad that I don’t have to lock my bike to a bench to park it downtown,” Sara Trueblood, an Arts R Alive member said during the dedication. “I ride my bike downtown and you have to tie it up to anything you can find.”

The thought of making bike parking more accessible is one of logic, given the extensive bike trail system in and around Webster City.

The notion of it also being art is a step forward for community development, City Manager John Harrenstein said during the installation.

“This is a beautiful addition to our downtown area, you know,” he said. “It ties into so many city priorities, downtown revitalization, connecting bikers with the downtown, bringing visitors to the downtown and just joins all those efforts that the City Council has embarked upon in partnership with our allies.”

The bike rack is located on Willson Avenue south of its intersection with Second Street downtown. It was installed Tuesday afternoon by the city and the artist, Tim Adams, of Webster City.

“You can park a number of bicycles in there and be able to, you know, chain them up,” he said. “And so it’s just a little twist on an ornamental way of creating a bike rack.”

Arts R Alive and SSMID discussed the project long before it became a reality, Kevin Rubash, owner of Interior Spaces and SSMID officer said.

“Well, thanks everybody for coming out on a rainy little night here,” Rubash said. “And you know, SSMID sees this as more than just a bike rack. Yes, we do need the functionality of the bike rack, but it really is an asset to our downtown community. The things that SSMID spends its money on — we want to improve the atmosphere and the appeal of shopping in Webster City, so we want to have points that people come, they see, they tell their friends about they want to come back.

“You know, many of the sculptures that we already have on Main Street. I find it rather enjoyable when I go by and I see people stopping to pose, take pictures by them. And so I hope this is just another addition as well as a functional bike rack. So Tim, thank you for designing and creating such an awesome piece.”

Janet Adams, Arts R Alive board president, talked a bit about the project.

“We’re grateful to those entities to help us get this all worked out. I think this has been in process for at least five or six years, so it takes a while to get things to come to fruition.”

This year, Arts R Alive, in cooperation with several downtown businesses and cooperation with the City of Webster City, brought outdoor sculpture to the downtown for the first time in a long time.

It also installs a rotating selection of outdoor sculptures in West Twin Park.