VISTA — A new art piece is coming to downtown Vista on Main Street. The Vista City Council unanimously approved a Peace Pole sculpture which will be inscribed with, “May Peace Prevail on Earth.” The piece was donated by the United Methodist Church of Vista at the Feb. 13 council meeting.
Imelda M. Huerta, a city management analyst, said staff, the public arts commission and the applicant discussed possible locations for the Peace Pole. The agreed on Main Street, across from the Village Café Restaurant located at 406 Main Street.
Huerta said a public notice was posted from Nov. 22, 2017, to Jan. 2, 2018. No public comments were received.
According to Huerta, a 2-inch-by-3-inch plaque will be placed at the bottom of the pole that reads “Gift from the United Methodist Church of Vista.”
“The pole is an 8-foot-high vinyl pole in white with black lettering,” Huerta said. “The phrase ‘May Peace Prevail on Earth’ will be noted in eight different languages of the city’s choice. The languages proposed are English, Spanish, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Samoan, Persian and the written of language Braille.”
City public works will install the peace pole. The pole is low maintenance and weatherproofed, Huerta said.
“Material costs are estimated to be $216, and the Recreation and Services Department has sufficient funding in the fiscal year 2017/18 operating budget,” she said. “The donor is responsible for all costs related to the design and delivery of the sculpture.”
Councilman Joe Green said he was a fan of the piece.
“Our Arts Commission works really hard to come up with good art,” he said. “We’ve spoken as a council about a variety of different types of art that we’d like in our community, and this particular Peace Pole is awesome. I wanted to make sure that everybody who’s here and everybody’s whose watching (television or online) knows that this is something that I am definitely very supportive of — I’m glad we’re going to be having it here in Vista.”
Green thanked the Arts Commission for its work.
City of Vista Communications Officer Andrea McCullough said that the Peace Pole installation is likely to occur in the next six to eight weeks following the order from the manufacturer.
