By BJ Austin, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-873797.mp3
Dallas, TX –
Two art deco statues, missing from the Esplanade Fountain at Fair Park in Dallas, are back. KERA's BJ Austin says the second "replica" was hoisted into place today.
They're called "Tenor" and "Contralto" - 15 foot tall bronze statues that graced the Esplanade Fountain at Fair Park's opening in 1936. But, they disappeared sometime thereafter. Speculation is they were melted down for the war effort during World War II, but no one knows for sure. Craig Holcomb, with Friends of Fair Park, says the large silver figures add some pizzazz to the park's historic art deco architecture.
Holcomb: One of the things is that art deco tends to be fairly formal and symmetrical. So you put these statues in there that are not formal and not symmetrical and it just adds a whole level of energy and excitement that you can't find anywhere else.
The replicas are part of the Esplanade Fountain's 12 million dollar makeover. The public is invited to see the statues, and the new Bellagio-style water and music show in the fountain, Sunday, from 2-7.