To artist, tower insults his work

There's probably no making it right, but sculptor Mico Kaufman wants everyone to know that he thinks it's wrong.

Town officials say their approval of a Sprint cellular-phone tower built behind a bronze sculpture is a good source of revenue. Kaufman, who gave the whimsical depiction of firefighters to the town in 1992, says the insult extends beyond Tewksbury.

''If they get away with this project," said Kaufman, ''then all public parks in this country are fair game."

But even an attorney who represents Kaufman's works concedes he may not have any legal protection.

''The truth of the matter is that unless there is some contractual agreement that lays it all out and protects the work, you really don't have any rights as an artist," said Susan Julian Gates. ''In the best of all possible worlds in Tewksbury, the people who were responsible for that building and the cell tower would have recognized that putting those structures next to that sculpture would denigrate the work."

Despite a series of public meetings last year, Kaufman, 82, and his longtime companion Elsie Howell, both of Tewksbury, said they were unaware the cell tower would be located so close to the sculpture and Muster Park, created 14 years ago with donations and gifts of labor and service.

Howell said she checked in with Town Manager David Cressman during the construction phase last fall, who repeatedly assured her the tower, completed this winter, would not interfere with the sculpture's sight line.

But when it was done, the park she had helped create from a bramble mess was overshadowed by a 140-foot-tall cell tower disguised as an oversized flagpole. The background of maple and oak trees was obscured by an L-shaped brick building which houses the electronic equipment for the cell antenna, and the underground sprinkler system that transformed the sculpture into a fountain was damaged.

So Howell, 81, marched a small contingent of supporters to the Feb. 28 selectmen's meeting and spoke her mind.

''I really lambasted the selectmen. In fact I called it political vandalism to the park," she said. ''We are angry at the Conservation Commission, the Planning Board, the selectmen, and the town manager." A three-member Memorial Committee, which oversees structures placed on municipal locations, also gave its stamp of approval.

Howell is gathering signatures to file a Town Meeting petition by Friday's deadline to change the zoning bylaws this spring. She and Kaufman want wireless communication facilities allowed only in heavy industrial zoning districts. Her phone is ringing off the hook with supporters' calls, she said.

But even if the bylaws change, it wouldn't bring down the cell tower, but would only affect future poles.

At the center of the controversy is a postage stamp-sized municipal park located at the intersection of South and Main streets in the south of town. Kaufman's bronze 12-foot sculpture of firefighters holding a hose in a whimsical flowing formation is the focal point, with a garden ring encircling it.

The sculpture, which he titled ''Muster," was created at a cost of about $300,000 to honor the town's firefighters. The swirl of firefighters clinging to a hose was based on a playful Italian song that Kaufman learned while studying art in Italy from 1947 to 1951. Of the five sculptures which he had given to the town, it is the only one linked to a personal experience, and its humor contrasts the dark memories of a flight to Rome after years of hard labor under Nazi supervision in his homeland of Romania.

The tower was located next to the South Fire Station to enhance wireless communication coverage for firefighters when battling blazes in South Tewksbury, as well as for Sprint users traveling in that section of town, said officials. A wetlands area requiring a buffer zone behind the park, according to Cressman, caused the structure to be placed on Main Street, rather than in a more obscure location.

Kaufman acknowledges that since its unveiling, local firefighters have voiced displeasure with ''Muster," and some local residents whisper that firefighters prefer the cell tower to the sculpture.

''A lot of people, mostly the firemen, did not understand this was admiration," Kaufman said. ''There was humor in it."

Fire Chief Richard Mackey acknowledged that the depiction raised eyebrows when unveiled, but didn't create controversy.

''It shows firemen flipping up and down," he said. ''It doesn't show it as a serious job. . . . There were a few people that didn't like it because of that, but I don't think it was that big an issue."

Kaufman is an internationally acclaimed sculptor, with a major work to be unveiled in Hopkinton next month paying tribute to the Boston Marathon. The work, ''The Spirit of the Marathon," was commissioned last year by New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc. and will be placed at the Mile One marker. A twin sculpture was unveiled in Marathon, Greece, in 2004.

''His sculpture was mentioned on the Olympics NBC broadcast," said Gates. ''But then in his own little town, what are they doing? Instead of saying we have an internationally recognized sculptor . . . they put up a cell and a building" behind his work. ''If you told somebody this happened, they wouldn't believe it."

Kaufman wants the park returned to its original condition.

''They have to remove that pole and the building out of the area," said Kaufman.

Not likely, said a Sprint Nextel Corp. representative.

''Sprint hasn't done anything improper," said John Redman, the company's regional communications manager. ''We went before the town with a proposal, they issued a permit, and there would be no reason for us to take it down."

Gates thinks another solution is to relocate the sculpture somewhere else in Tewksbury.

''If I had the money to move it," she said, ''I would move it. I think it's sad when you devoted so much time and effort and love in creating things for your community and this happens."

But money is tight in Tewksbury. Aging, crowded school buildings and a growing student population are among the biggest worries, compounded by few large industrial complexes and few undeveloped parcels to attract business and bolster the town's tax base. It takes creativity to generate revenue, and cell towers can bring in significant tax dollars.

In the fiscal year ending June 30, the town expects to collect about $380,000 from renting the land for towers in three locations, according to Town Manager Cressman. The Sprint tower alone will generate $26,400 for the first year, with increases in succeeding years, he said.

Howell expressed frustration last week as she pored over brochures and newspaper articles from 1992 that highlighted the park's dedication.

''This was a gift to the people of the town," she said. ''Do I have to be fighting this for the rest of my life?"

Joyce Pellino Crane can be reached at crane@globe.com.