Like a futuristic orb ready to spin up into the sky above Baton Rouge, the new sculpture sitting on the downtown riverfront at Florida Street is a stunner. But this shining beacon on the Mississippi River was also at the mercy of the river for more than a year.
The Rotary Club of Baton Rouge intended to unveil the work of art in October 2018 to commemorate its 100th anniversary. But high waters on the river caused a delay that fall. And then a record 211 days above flood stage in 2019 kept everyone waiting much longer.
In early November, construction crews finally got to work installing the 14-foot-high stainless steel sculpture. It was created by California-based and Hong Kong-born visual artist Po Shu Wang, who was commissioned by Rotary for the project.
