Following a small fire in the art installation in Collegetown, the Cornell Council for the Arts had the sculptures coated with fire retardant material yesterday afternoon.
According to Milton Curry, director of CCA, there are regularly scheduled treatments of fire retardant material, and yesterday’s coating was simply an acceleration of this schedule.
The installation, located in the plaza between the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts and Sheldon Court, caught fire just before 8 p.m. Sunday night.
The fire was extinguished by Ithaca police officer John Arsenault, who borrowed two extinguishers from Collegetown Bagels.
The Ithaca Fire Department was unsure of the cause of the fire at the time, but is investigating.
Local dogwood and maple saplings and branches were woven together to make the installation’s six individual structures. The installation, commissioned by CCA, was finished in September.
CCA will continue to monitor the installation, which will remain in place through August 2007, according to Curry.
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The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/2007/04/24/cca-protects-c-town-sculptures/)