Old Port Portico
Commission by the Hillsborough County Public Art Program for the Jan Kaminis Platt Library located in the City of Tampa, Hillsborough County, Florida. The Portico creates a dramatic and welcoming entrance to the children's area of a 'library without walls.' The Panther and the Manatees are threatened Florida wildlife, the lintel is after the Gustav Stickley style which is popular in the Tampa area, the Greek style columns bring to mine a sense of higher learning, and the eight marquetry panels on the pediments represent eight fields of study. The Portico was built in pieces and shipped to Tampa. Two steel posts are bolted to the floor and all the other pieces fit over the column, all being fastened into place by two nuts and two bolts welded to the tops of the steel posts.