A nearly 40-foot-tall steel sculpture has been erected at the Seaplane Lagoon Park at Alameda Point. The highly visible landmark will serve to orient park-goers, as well as visitors and residents embarking and returning by ferry.

Artist DeWitt Godfrey was on hand the past several days to supervise and assist in making his sculpture come to life. On Monday, August 8, the top section was lowered into place by a crane. Finishing touches, such as grinding down rough edges, was still in process on Tuesday, August 9.

Godfrey’s art proposal was selected by Site A developer Alameda Point Partners in March 2020 after reviewing numerous applications. Installation of public art is one of the requirements of the development agreement with the city for the 68-acre residential and commercial project. The project was approved by the Public Art Commission in July 2020 after the artist modified the height of the bottom sections to make them taller and more difficult to climb.

The name of the sculpture is Beken. “It’s old English for beacon,” said Godfrey. “The site seemed to want something like a lighthouse, or an air pylon, or an air tower.”

The structure is composed of about 120 separate elements that range in size from 10 inches in diameter to almost 10 feet in diameter. “The whole thing weighs about 15,000 pounds,” said Godfrey. “It was all fabricated at our studio in upstate New York, assembled, and then broken down into pieces that would fit on two flatbed trailers that left New York a little over 10 days ago.”

The whole structure is designed on the computer. The software then “unrolls” these shapes into flat patterns that are laser cut. “Then we roll them into shape,” said Godfrey. “We have a four-roll hydraulic bender. There’s no heat, it’s just cold bending.”

This is the tallest piece that Godfrey has installed to date but not the heaviest. “We just finished a project in Denver that weighs about twice as much and spans a road and a bike path,” said Godfrey. “Each piece is done in collaboration with the community, the selection panel, and the client to find the right form, the right solution for each site.”

The design was also reviewed for structural soundness. “It’s completely engineered for the very stringent seismic regulations here, and wind,” said Godfrey.

Lights in the plaza will shine up inside at night.

Contributing writer Richard Bangert posts stories and photos about environmental issues and wildlife at Alameda Point on his blog Alameda Point Environmental Report https://alamedapointenviro.com.