BOARD NOTES
September 19, 2017

Progress on the Student Council Fountain Restoration

Representatives from various construction, architectural, and trades firms who are members of the fountain restoration team were present at the September 20th Board Meeting. Each spoke briefly about their companies and the part they will play in the process.

James Gray of Rialto Studios began with a state-of-the-project introduction. He noted that the synergy created by the meeting of the team members was shaping the project as better ideas were formulated with all the minds together.

Burditt Tile presented the tile restoration plan. A component of this plan that is dictated by the Historical Design Review Board is that all of the tiles that are removed must be saved as historical materials. Not all tiles are being removed. Whichever tiles are still basically intact will remain. All others will be replaced.

Dunis Studios, tilemakers in Wimberly, Texas, showed samples of the tiles they hand make in their factory. The process was briefly explained. Dunis assured the Board that the tiles would be expertly matched, with only surface finish varying somewhat due to aging of the original tiles. Dunis clients of note are the McNay Art Institute, the King Ranch, The San Pedro Park Library, and the University of Texas at Austin.

Though not present, Donna Dobberfuhl, an award winning artist, was presented by way of a handout detailing her training, experience, and commissioned art. Donna will be creating the model for the frogs that spew water out of their mouths into the upper level  of the fountain.Her model will be used to create the 3 frogs.

The managing contractor for the project, Guido Construction, introduced their project manager and presented construction details and a preliminary budget of $181,000. There are options that will either increase or decrease the budget as they are accepted or rejected, and a construction contingency of $10,000 is earmarked.

Other contractors not represented were Fountain Works, Mission Plumbing, Sculptural Design, Big State Electric, and Hunt Concrete.

It has been a long haul to this point, but the work and wait has been worth it as we see the imminent restoration of the Student Council fountain.

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